![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/IMG-20250829-WA0034.jpg\")
AVID leader<\/p><\/div>\n
In a letter addressed president Trump on Friday, a copy of which was made available to journalists in Nigeria the group accused the Nigerian judiciary of \u201cgross violations of human rights\u201d and complicity in what they described as the unlawful persecution of Kanu, who has been in detention since his extraordinary rendition from Kenya in June 2021.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Screenshot_20250420-182255_1-300x212.jpg\")
Leader of IPOB,Mazi Nnamdi Kanu<\/p><\/div>\n
The petition specifically listed Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako, Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, Justice Hamma Akawu Barka, Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba, former Chief Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, and former Attorney General Malami as those who \u201cenabled arbitrary detention, extraordinary rendition, denial of fair trial rights, and suppression of free speech.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, none of judges mentioned in the letter\u00a0 could be reached for comments at the time of going to Press.<\/p>\n
AVID, which has been undertaking a serious campaign to free Nnamdi Kanu, wrote, \u201cJudges enjoy no immunity for gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
AVID said in the petition, \u201cJust as Nazi judges were prosecuted for sham trials and Russian judges have faced sanctions for arbitrary detention, Nigerian judges who endorse persecution must also be held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n
The organizations recalled that the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention had, in July 2022, declared Kanu\u2019s detention unlawful, finding that it violated 16 international human rights covenants and ordering his immediate release and reparations.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor over three years, Nigeria has openly defied the United Nations ruling, keeping Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in solitary confinement without trial,\u201d said Chief Ugochukwu Nwosu, spokesperson for Rising Sun Charities. \u201cThis is a direct affront to international law and a stain on Nigeria\u2019s judiciary.\u201d<\/p>\n
The petition also cited several legal decisions in Kanu\u2019s favor, including a \u20a6500 million award by the Federal High Court in Umuahia in 2022, and a June 2025 ruling by the Nairobi High Court which declared his extraordinary rendition illegal and awarded KES 10 million in damages.<\/p>\n
Despite these rulings, the Nigerian courts, according to the petitioners, have continued to justify his detention.<\/p>\n
They further criticized the 2017 proscription of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as a terrorist organization, calling it \u201ca politically motivated move\u201d endorsed through an illegal ex parte proceeding.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo country in the world\u2014including the United States\u2014recognizes IPOB as a terrorist group. Yet Nigerian courts cling to that label as justification for persecuting peaceful activists.\u201d<\/p>\n
The group accused Justice Murtala-Nyako the Judge of the Federal High Court Abuja for \u201carbitrary detention, denial of right to counsel and access to necessary medical care, endorsement of ex parte prohibition of IPOB without due process.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also, it accused Justice Tsammani, then Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal, Abuja, now Justice of the Supreme Court, of \u201carbitrary detention.\u201d<\/p>\n
Similarly, it said Justice Barka who presided over the case at the Court of Appeal, Abuja, should be sanctioned for affirming arbitrary exparte proscription of IPOB.<\/p>\n
While accused Justice Garba, who as justice of the Supreme Court of \u201caffirming arbitrary detention to enable the Nigerian government to profit from its own crimes against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu,\u201d it accused former Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman of the National Judicial Council, Olukayode Ariwoola, of \u201cendorsing Mazi Nnamdi Kanu\u2019s kidnapping, torture, extraordinary rendition, and arbitrary detention without trial.\u201d The group said they should be sanctioned.<\/p>\n
It alleged \u201cthe former Attorney General Abubakar Malami orchestrated Mazi Nnamdi Kanu\u2019s kidnapping, torture, extraordinary rendition. And arbitrary detention without trial\u201d and should also be sanctioned.<\/p>\n
The petitioners insisted that sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act are necessary to deter further abuses.<\/p>\n
\u201cSilence in the face of injustice emboldens dictators,\u201d the petition concluded.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy sanctioning these officials, Nigeria will be sending a clear message that human rights violations carry consequences, no matter where they occur.\u201d<\/p>\n
The organizations reiterated that their call is not merely about Kanu, but about broader accountability and the protection of human rights in Nigeria.<\/p>\n
- \n
- \u201cThis is about ensuring no judge, no official, and no government can trample on fundamental freedoms without repercussions. The world must not look away,\u201d the petition ended<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By George Mgbeleke Disturbed by the continuous detention of the IPOB leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in incaseration an American Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID), in collaboration with Rising Sun Charities Organization and Ambassadors for Self-Determination, has petitioned the U.S. President Donald Trump to impose global Magnitsky sanctions on a number of Nigerian judges and former […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[3218,179,2191,4333,1493,3320,4334,4332],"class_list":["post-6788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-law-crime","tag-arbitrary","tag-detention","tag-extraordinary","tag-freedoms","tag-fundamental","tag-rendition","tag-repercussions","tag-trample"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6788"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6793,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6788\/revisions\/6793"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}