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U.S. Officials Observe Nnamdi Kanu’s Trial In Abuja As Prosecution Witness Falters —IPOB

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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.”

Two officials from the United States government were present at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday, June 18, 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.”

SaharaReporters 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.”

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I’ll never go to Arise TV until he’s removed – Igbokwe on clash between Minister Umahi, Rufai

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A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Joe Igbokwe has vowed to steer clear of Arise Television until one of the TV’s presenters and show host, Rufai Oseni, is sacked.

Igbokwe’s remark followed a drama that ensued between the Minister of Works, David Umahi and Rufai during an interview on The Morning Show on Monday.

According to a trending video, the minister, who was furious over some questions that were put out to him by Rufai regarding the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road, asked the show host to keep quiet.

Umahi claimed he is a professor in the field of engineering and has vast knowledge regarding the federal government projects.

But Rufai became inquisitive and demanded to know the year the minister became a professor.

Reacting to the drama, Igbokwe in a Facebook post, said until Rufai is sacked, he will not appear on the TV station, stating that the station has “become a TV Station of anything goes.

“I will never go there again until Rufai Oseni is removed.

“The Animal Science graduate is making a mockery of Journalism. Televion Station is not a place for mediocres and noise makers”, the APC chieftain posted.

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Alleged Christian genocide: US Rep asks Trump to tag Nigeria ‘Country of Particular Concern’

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A lawmaker representing West Virginia’s Second District in the United States House of Congress, Rep Riley M. Moore, has written to President Donald Trump, asking the US government to immediately designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concerns, CPC.

The letter dated October 6, 2025, and addressed to Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, US Department of State in Washington DC, was sighted by Ekwutosblog on Tuesday.

In the letter, the lawmaker urged the US government to immediately halt sales of arms and all associated technical support to Nigeria until the “Nigerian government demonstrates that it is sufficiently committed to ending the reign of persecution and slaughter”.

Moore claimed that from January to September 2025 alone, no fewer than 7,000 Christians have been gruesomely murdered by “Muslim extremist groups”.

He alleged that at least 250 Catholic Priests have been attacked or killed across the country since 2015, stressing that “between Boko Haram uprising in 2009 and 2025, 19,100 churches in Nigeria have been attacked or destroyed”.

Ekwutosblog reports that President Trump had during his first tenure designated Nigeria as a CPC but his successor, former President Joe Biden reversed the designation.

 

US Senator Ted Cruz, television host Bill Maher, and political commentator Van Jones had also alleged that Nigeria is witnessing a “Christian genocide”.

During a recent podcast appearance with American talk show host Bill Maher, Senator Cruz alleged that Christians were being systematically targeted and killed in Nigeria, describing the situation as “genocide”.

But the Federal Government had since dismissed the report, stating that the deteriorating security situation in the country does not target a particular religion.

The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, in a recent statement, described the allegations as false, misleading and capable of inciting division.

According to him, the foreign commentators were “orchestrating wild allegations about unproven ongoing genocide” in Nigeria and urged Nigerians and the international community to reject attempts to “robe the country with a garment that is not hers”.

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Subject: A cashier at a Kingsway store.

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Location: Lagos, Nigeria.
Date: Circa January 1962.

Photographer/Source: Pix/Michael Ochs Archives.
Significance: The image captures the era of Kingsway Stores, which symbolized modern and cosmopolitan life in West Africa in the early 1960s.
About Kingsway Stores

Origins: The chain began as Lever’s Stores in 1922, evolving through Opobo Stores Ltd before becoming Kingsway Stores Ltd in 1947.

Expansion: The first store in Nigeria opened in Lagos in 1948, followed by others in cities like Freetown, Accra, Ibadan, and Port Harcourt.

Impact: Kingsway Stores represented a modern, western-style shopping experience, with departments for various goods, and were a popular shopping destination for Nigerians.

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