How U.S. Officials Observed Nnamdi Kanu’s Trial
Not less than Two officials from the United States government were present at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, to observe the ongoing trial of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, according to the organisation.
IPOB said the presence of the U.S. observers “underscores the growing international concern over the manifestly unjust and politically motivated trial being orchestrated against our leader.”
In a press statement issued after the hearing, and signed by Comrade Emma Powerful, Media and Publicity Secretary for IPOB, the organisation described the day’s court proceedings as a “shambolic” display by the prosecution, claiming that its principal witness, codenamed PW-DDD, crumbled under “devastating” cross-examination by the defence.
According to IPOB, the government’s witness, described as a self-identified law enforcement operative, gave testimony that “rested heavily on hearsay, uncorroborated newspaper clippings, and allegations lacking any investigative or evidentiary backbone.”
The group noted that PW-DDD relied on a July 3, 2021, Vanguard newspaper article to claim that Kanu had ordered someone to “kill 2,000 people.” He reportedly also alleged Kanu authorised the attack on the Owerri Correctional Facility but admitted under cross-examination that he was neither present at the incident nor involved in any formal investigation of it.
The presiding judge reportedly rejected documents the prosecution attempted to tender, ruling that they were obtained without legal counsel being present with the defendant—”in violation of fair trial standards,” IPOB said.
Among the exhibits submitted by the prosecution was a report from the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), which IPOB noted “simply stated that broadcasting transmitters require regulatory approval and that the equipment was ‘intended for broadcasting.’”
IPOB argued that such a statement is “neither novel nor incriminating in any serious legal sense.”
Highlighting the defence’s efforts, IPOB said its lead counsel, Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, “utterly dismantled” the prosecution’s case during cross-examination.
PW-DDD allegedly admitted that “no official report of his so-called investigation was filed in court” and said it was “in a drawer in his office” instead. He also reportedly confirmed he had no personal knowledge of key individuals or events connected to the case.
“He never interviewed Uzomma Benjamin a.k.a. Onyearmy. He never interviewed the Vanguard journalist who allegedly took Onyearmy’s statement. He was not present at the Owerri Police Station or Correctional Centre during the alleged attacks,” the IPOB statement stated.
The witness also reportedly admitted to not interviewing anyone linked to the killing of a former presidential aide, Ahmed Gulak, and to receiving no witness information related to it.
When questioned about his reliance on newspaper reports, IPOB claimed he “shockingly affirmed that he believes everything he reads in newspapers,” but contradicted himself by dismissing a similar allegation involving Sunday Igboho published in the same outlet.
Under pressure from the defence, PW-DDD was allegedly made to read aloud a portion of the Vanguard article which labelled Onyearmy’s claims as “mere allegations without proof.”
According to IPOB, the witness gave “evasive and incoherent” answers throughout the session, prompting both the judge and the prosecution’s lead counsel, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, to intervene.
The judge reportedly told the witness: “Answer the question put to you honestly without needless explanation and stop wasting my time.”
The witness replied that he would “chastise himself without the need for the court to admonish him.”
Summing up the court events, IPOB stated: “Today’s proceedings laid bare the comedy of errors that has become the Federal Government’s case against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.”
IPOB concluded the statement by renewing its call for the “immediate and unconditional release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu,” insisting that “this entire process is a political persecution anchored in illegality, impunity, and vengeance—not law.”
It was earlier reported that the traditional ruler of Opi Ancient Kingdom in Nsukka Local Government Area, Enugu State, Eze-Igwe Williams Ezugwu, had declared that President Bola Tinubu missed a historic opportunity to begin national healing by failing to release Kanu on Democracy Day, June 12, 2025.
The monarch, who is also the Secretary General of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), said Tinubu’s failure to act was “a missed opportunity to demonstrate statesmanship and empathy.”
