Under the auspices of the Rising Sun Foundation for Justice and Human Rights, human rights advocates have called on the world community to hold the Nigerian government responsible for repeatedly disobeying court orders during the trial of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, or IPOB.
The call was made by the activists in a statement that was made public on Tuesday in advance of Kanu’s trial’s planned November 20, 2025 verdict. Rev. Fr. Augustine Odinmegwa, the director of the organization, signed the declaration.
The statement headlined “Nigeria’s serial contempt of court: A decade of judicial fraud in the persecution of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu – The world must hold the Nigerian state accountable” highlighted court rulings that the Federal Government had disregarded since the trial started.
All of the court orders that the Nigerian government is accused of disobeying are in the IPOB leader’s favor.
Kanu’s trial was seen by the activists as a state-engineered persecution and an attempt to criminalize protest.
“As Nigeria’s Federal High Court in Abuja prepares to deliver what could be one of the most legally disastrous judgments in modern African history on November 20, 2025, the Rising Sun Foundation for Justice and Human Rights issues this urgent global alert: Nigeria has entered its tenth consecutive year of orchestrated judicial fraud and open constitutional sabotage in the politically motivated persecution of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu,” the statement stated.
“The Nigerian government, its security services, its prosecution teams, and even some members of the judiciary, such as Justice James Omotosho, have turned into chronic lawbreakers, openly disobeying court orders on a local, regional, and global scale.
“This procedure is not legal. It is a persistent attempt to criminalize dissent by undermining the very Constitution that Nigeria purports to defend, as well as state-engineered persecution. Following a criminal kidnapping from Kenya in June 2021, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, a British-based political activist and leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has been wrongfully detained for more than four years. This act has already been denounced as illegal rendition by courts in both Kenya and Nigeria, as well as by several UN organizations.
The statement stated that the Nigerian government continues its prosecution based on repealed laws, jurisdictionally void charges, fabricated evidence, and judicial panels hand-picked to validate predetermined outcomes, despite eight distinct judicial victories over the course of eight years, none of which have ever been appealed or lawfully set aside.
The United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, the African Union, the UN Human Rights Council, and the International Criminal Court were urged by the Rising Sun Foundation to step in right now. “Igbo rights and regional stability for all of West Africa are now threatened by Nigeria’s actions,” the statement continued.
The activists cited eight decisions that favored Nnamdi Kanu between 2017 and 2025, all of which the Nigerian government had broken.
Nigeria did not adhere to any. All decisions are final and cannot be overturned. Nigeria’s disobedience is deliberate and not coincidental.
1. Federal High Court in Abuja, 2017 (Justice Binta Nyako)
The foundation of the current so-called terrorism trial was destroyed when the court declared categorically that IPOB is neither a terrorist organization nor an illegal organization. A number of charges were dismissed due to insufficient evidence. This ruling is still binding and uncontested as of right now.
2019: The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights determined that IPOB was protected by Articles 9, 10, and 11 of the African Charter and was neither violent nor terrorist. It denounced Nigeria’s acts as ethnic prejudice against Igbo people. According to Article 1 of the Charter, Nigeria is bound by this decision. 0% compliance.
2022: The Federal High Court (Umuahia Division) ruled that Kanu’s kidnapping from Kenya was a blatant violation of both local and international law, ordered his release, and dismissed all charges related to the unlawful rendition. Nigeria did not file an appeal. Nigeria never obeyed.
2022: Justice Benson Anya of the Abia State High Court affirmed that the military invasion of Kanu’s residence in 2017, known as “Operation Python Dance,” was an attempt on his life by Nigerian security forces. No appeals. Absent responsibility.
Court of Appeal, Abuja Division (Hanatu Sankey, Oladotun Adefope-Okojie, Ebiowei Tobi JJCA), October 13, 2022. In a landmark decision, the court declared that a retrial is unconstitutional under Section 36(9) CFRN because of double jeopardy and the illegality of Kanu’s rendition. Kanu was released from custody and cleared of all charges. Under Nigerian law, this acquittal is final. However, Nigeria disregarded it and, in order to reverse it, created judicial fraud through Tsammani JCA.
2022: The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (Opinion No. 38/2022) declared that his detention was unlawful, discriminatory, and arbitrary in all respects and called for his immediate release and compensation. Nigeria is still openly violating the law. 2023: The Nigerian government’s handling of IPOB members amounted to widespread ethnic discrimination against the Igbo people, according to a ruling by Justice Onuoha Onovo of the Enugu State High Court. Nigeria ignores the verdict, which is still in effect.
In 2025, the Kenyan High Court declared that the operation was an illegal rendition that violated Kenyan sovereignty and that Kenya had never approved Kanu’s relocation. Redress and accountability were mandated. The diplomatic impact is getting worse as Nigeria refuses to comply.
“When taken as a whole, these decisions demonstrate that Nigeria is conducting a politically orchestrated persecution rather than a legitimate prosecution,” the statement added.
The activists denounced the Court of Appeal’s Justice Muhammad Lawal Tsammani panel for overturning the court’s previous October 13, 2022, acquittal of the IPOB leader.
The statement went on, “October 2022 saw the most egregious judicial fraud in Nigeria.” Following the valid acquittal by the Court of Appeal on October 13, the Nigerian government assembled a panel headed by Justice Muhammad Lawal Tsammani. The panel used Order 6 Rule 1 of the Court of Appeal Rules, a civil procedure rule, to “stay” a criminal acquittal, a step never seen in Nigerian, African, or Commonwealth jurisprudence.
“This is, on its face, illegal. It is not possible to overturn a criminal acquittal through civil proceedings. Away from Nigeria. No, not in the UK. Not in America. Not in the world at all. Abacha v. State and FRN v. Anache are two Supreme Court rulings that prohibit this kind of doctrinal cross-contamination.
“The Tsammani judgment did not become legislation.
The executive branch orchestrated judicial sabotage, which continues to be the fundamental cause of the current constitutional crisis.
Justice James Omotosho’s Abuja Federal High Court’s actions were characterized by the activists as “open constitutional defiance.”
The statement claims that the judge “knowingly forced Kanu to plead to a void, repealed, and non-existent law – first Criminal Code Cap C45 (repealed), then Customs & Excise Management Act 2004 (also repealed)” in spite of the Supreme Court’s clear directive to amend Count 7 to conform to an existing statute.
It further stated that the court declined to address the double criminality requirement under TPPA 2022, which includes multiple domestic orders requiring Kanu’s release, the existence of a formal arrest of judgment motion, the binding 2022 Court of Appeal acquittal, and the constitutional bar on prosecution under a repealed law (CFRN §36(12)).
“He has foreclosed addresses, dismissed jurisdictional objections without a hearing, and now intends to provide a ruling, all of which would constitute a judicial nullity. It’s not a judicial error. “It is intentional cooperation with executive wrongdoing,” the activists said.
The activists called on the international community to “act now,” claiming that Nigeria has violated its own Constitution, the African Charter, UN conventions, fundamental fair trial principles, and anti-rendition law due to its ongoing defiance.
As a result, the Rising Sun Foundation called for an investigation by the UN Human Rights Council into Nigeria’s systematic judicial abuses, the prompt execution of all current acquittals and court orders, and international sanctions on Nigerian officials accountable for disobedience.
In addition, the activists demanded worldwide pressure to compel adherence to both national and international decisions.
“Nigeria is in danger of irreversibly destroying its judiciary. A state is disintegrating internally when it refuses to submit to its own courts. We firmly support all Nigerians seeking justice, including Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and the Igbo nation. The activists said, “The world has to support us.”
