Three non-profit organizations, American Veterans of Igbo Descent (AVID), Rising Sun Charities Organization, and Ambassadors for Self-Determination, has submitted a petition to the President of the United States, Donald Trump, demanding sanctions against Nigerian jurists and the former Attorney General for sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, 22 U.S.C. 10102 (c) and E.O. 13818.
In a memo received by AbaCityBlog, the organizations made the petition through the Law Offices of Bruce Fein, an International counsel for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
In the petition, they demanded President Trump to sanction the Nigerian Judges for gross human rights violations and not giving Nnamdi fair hearing during trials, citing the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, 22 U.S.C. 10102, and E.O. 13818.
The petition name; Justice Binta Murtala-Nyaku; Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani; Justice Hamma Akawa Barka; and Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba; and former Chief Justice of Nigeria Olukayode Ariwoola, and former Attorney General Abubakar Malami to be sanctioned.
Parts of the petition read:
“Pursuant to the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, 22 U.S.C. 10102, and E.O. 13818, the three nonprofit organizations urge Magnitsky sanctions against a quintet of Nigerian judges implicated in the persecution of Biafran leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu for exercising his rights to free speech and association and a fair trial: Justice Binta Murtala-Nyaku; Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani; Justice Hamma Akawa Barka; and Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba; and former Chief Justice of Nigeria Olukayode Ariwoola.
They also seek Magnitsky sanctions against former Attorney General Abubakar Malami.
“The violations include ongoing arbitrary detention as determined by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, denial of the right to fair-trial rights, and judicial endorsement of Mr. Kanu’s kidnapping, torture, and extraordinary rendition from Kenya to Nigeria.
“Judges enjoy no immunity for gross violations of internationally recognized human rights. Nazi judges were prosecuted by the United States for presiding over sham trials where the outcome had been predetermined by Nazi authorities. See “Judges Trial” (United States v. Joseph Alstotter, et al. Russian judge Olesya was sanctioned by the United States on December 31, 2024, for participating in the arbitrary detention of Moscow city counselor and human rights defender, Alexi Gorniov, for voicing opposition to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Making Their Case On Persecution of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu
The petitioners recalled that Nigeria’s protracted persecution of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu for peaceful advocacy of a self-determination referendum in Biafra commenced as early as 2015. In September 2017, Nigeria’s military attempted to assassinate Mr. Kanu in his home. Many were murdered, but he managed to escape by a miracle.
“Concurrently, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) was banned as an alleged terrorist organization in an illegal ex parte proceeding that provoked the protest of five (5) United Nations Special Rapporteurs on human rights in an October 1, 2020, letter to Nigeria’s President Mohammadu Buhari.
“In June 2021, Mr. Kanu was kidnapped and tortured by Nigerian authorities in Nairobi, Kenya, followed by extraordinary rendition to Abuja, Nigeria. He has been detained in solitary confinement without trial and without proper access to lawyers ever since.
“The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found on July 20, 2022, that Mr. Kanu’s detention violated sixteen (16) international human rights covenants. It ordered his immediate and unconditional release and reparations. Nigeria has flouted the Working Group decision for more than three years.
“On October 26, 2022, the Federal High Court (Umuahia) declared Mr. Kanu’s extraordinary rendition unlawful and unconstitutional. It awarded him N500,000,000 in damages.
“On December 15, 2023, the Supreme Court of Nigeria, while acknowledging the Nigerian government’s extraordinary rendition of Mr. Kanu was criminal, nevertheless decreed that the fruits of its crime, his detention and prosecution, were legal.
“On January 30, 2025, the Court of Appeal, Abuja, affirmed the flagrantly illegal 2017 ex parte proscription of IPOB as a terrorist organization. (No other country in the world has followed suit including the United States).
“On June 24, 2025, the High Court of Kenya, Nairobi, held that Mr. Kanu’s extraordinary rendition unconstitutional and illegal. It awarded him KES 10,000,000 in damages against Kenyan authorities for conspiring with Nigerian authorities.
“Nigerian Justices and the Former Attorney General Deserving Global Magnitsky Sanctions For Violating Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s Internationally Recognized Human Rights In Defense of Free Speech and Association and Fair Trial to Peacefully Promote the Biafran Right to Self-Determination Enshrined in International Law
1) Hon. Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako l
Position: Judge, Federal High Court (Abuja).
Violations: Arbitrary detention, denial of right to counsel and access to necessary medical care, endorsement of ex parte prohibition of IPOB without due process.
2) Hon. Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani
Position: Then Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal (Abuja), now Justice of the Supreme Court.
Violation: Arbitrary detention
3) Hon. Justice Hamma Akawu Barka
Position: Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal (Abuja) panel.
Violation: Affirming arbitrary ex parte proscription of IPOB
4) Hon. Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba
Position: Justice, Supreme Court of Nigeria.
Violation: Affirming arbitrary detention to enable Nigerian government to profit from its own crimes against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
5) Former Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman of the National Judicial Council
Olukayode Ariwoola
Violation: Endorsed Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s kidnapping, torture, extraordinary rendition, and arbitrary detention without trial
6) Former Attorney General Abubakar Malami
Violation: Orchestrated Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s kidnapping, torture, extraordinary rendition. And arbitrary detention without trial.
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