Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is the age-long whistleblower of the Christian genocide.
The Forgotten Martyrs of Trump’s Global Legacy: A Nigerian Rally’s Bloody Echo in the Fight for FreedoM
On January 20, 2017-the day Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States-thousands gathered in Port Harcourt, Nigeria (locally known as Igweocha), for a peaceful solidarity rally in his honor. Organized by Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the event drew supporters waving American and Biafran flags, celebrating what they saw as a potential champion for self-determination and justice. These attendees, predominantly Judeo-Christians from Nigeria’s southeast, viewed Trump’s victory as a beacon of hope amid decades of ethnic marginalization and persecution since the Biafran civil war.
What began as a joyful assembly ended in bloodshed: Nigerian security forces opened fire on the unarmed crowd, resulting in multiple deaths and injuries, according to IPOB reports and contemporary accounts. The South-East Senate Caucus condemned the incident involving the alleged killings of unarmed IPOB members. Supporters maintain the violence stemmed from two primary motives: resentment over the participants’ enthusiastic support for Trump-whom the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) reportedly viewed unfavorably due to perceived alignments with Democratic figures-and hostility toward the Biafran self-determination movement and its Judeo-Christian identity.
Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is the age-long whistleblower of the Christian genocide.
The Forgotten Martyrs of Trump’s Global Legacy: A Nigerian Rally’s Bloody Echo in the Fight for Freedom
By Ikenna Anyaegbunam
January 10, 2026
On January 20, 2017-the day Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States-thousands gathered in Port Harcourt, Nigeria (locally known as Igweocha), for a peaceful solidarity rally in his honor. Organized by Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the event drew supporters waving American and Biafran flags, celebrating what they saw as a potential champion for self-determination and justice. These attendees, predominantly Judeo-Christians from Nigeria’s southeast, viewed Trump’s victory as a beacon of hope amid decades of ethnic marginalization and persecution since the Biafran civil war.
What began as a joyful assembly ended in bloodshed: Nigerian security forces opened fire on the unarmed crowd, resulting in multiple deaths and injuries, according to IPOB reports and contemporary accounts. The South-East Senate Caucus condemned the incident involving the alleged killings of unarmed IPOB members. Supporters maintain the violence stemmed from two primary motives: resentment over the participants’ enthusiastic support for Trump-whom the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) reportedly viewed unfavorably due to perceived alignments with Democratic figures-and hostility toward the Biafran self-determination movement and its Judeo-Christian identity.
Adding context to the APC’s alleged repressive tendencies, a 2025 ruling by Canada’s Federal Court upheld findings describing the APC (along with the opposition People’s Democratic Party) as engaging in conduct amounting to terrorism and subversion of democratic institutions, including election violence, ballot snatching, and rigging. The decision, in an immigration case involving a former party member, highlighted “violent tendencies” and political bloodshed, though the APC rejected the characterization as applying only to individuals, not the party as a whole.
Kanu himself has remained steadfast in his support for Trump, even when it was politically unpopular globally. Through Radio Biafra broadcasts, he praised Trump’s disruptor style and commitment to sovereignty. This culminated in a notable appearance: On January 30, 2020, Kanu attended Trump’s reelection campaign rally in Des Moines, Iowa, as a VIP guest invited by the state’s Republican Party. Seated among top Iowa GOP officials, including interactions with figures like Congressman Steve King, Kanu described the experience positively, tweeting from the event and expressing admiration for the energy. IPOB hailed it as evidence that Kanu was a legitimate advocate, not a terrorist.
Nearly a decade later, Kanu-abducted and subjected to extraordinary rendition from Kenya in 2021 (as ruled unlawful by the Kenyan High Court in June 2025, the Nigerian Court of Appeal in 2022, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in 2022, and acknowledged as a criminal abduction by Nigeria’s Supreme Court per Justice Emmanuel Agim in 2023)-was convicted on November 20, 2025, by the Federal High Court in Abuja (Justice James K. Omotosho) on seven terrorism-related counts. He received multiple life sentences (to run concurrently), plus 20 years and 5 years on other counts.
The incitement charges focused specifically on broadcasts during the 2020 EndSARS protests, particularly in response to the Lekki Toll Gate shooting on October 20, 2020. The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry’s November 2021 report established as fact that Nigerian soldiers and police opened fire on unarmed, peaceful protesters at Lekki-waving Nigerian flags and singing the national anthem-using live ammunition with deliberate intent to assault, maim, and kill, describing the event as a “massacre” in context (with at least 9 confirmed deaths, 4 presumed dead, and dozens injured). Kanu’s messages urged self-defense against this state violence, which the court interpreted as incitement leading to attacks on security forces.
Kanu, who represented himself after his legal team withdrew over strategic differences (including his filing of a key preliminary objection), has appealed the conviction. He has filed motions for transfer from Sokoto Correctional Centre to Abuja for better access to court processes, emphasizing his intent to prosecute the appeal pro se.
As Trump potentially returns to the political spotlight, the Port Harcourt martyrs’ story underscores his unexpected resonance in distant struggles for freedom. In Nigeria’s southeast, where Judeo-Christians face ongoing challenges, the 2017 rally’s violence remains a stark reminder of the costs of dissent-and the enduring hope that global leaders might one day address such overlooked injustices.
Ikenna Anyaegbunam is a Nigerian-American journalist based in Abuja, focusing on human rights and African politics.
View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire
