Unic Press UK: The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), yesterday, appealed against an order of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which not only banned the group, the order also designated IPOB as a terrorist organization.
With regard to the order of a Federal High Court on 20th September 2017, which declared the activities of IPOB as acts of terrorism, IPOB’s legal counsel, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, who is leading several lawyers in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/871/17 brought under Section 6(6) (1) (4) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, averred:
- “The Indigenous People of Biafra who are majorly of Igbo extraction, have no history of violence in the exercise of their right to self- determination.
- “The Indigenous People of Biafra does not carry arms and has no history of arms struggle in the exercise of their constitutionally guaranteed rights to self-determination.
- “That prior to and during the military invasion of the South Eastern states, members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) had never at any time, resorted to arms struggle or engaged in acts of violence capable of threatening the national security.
- “That the Federal High Court of Nigeria, Per Justice Binta Nyako of Court No 4, had in its rulings delivered on March 1, held that the Indigenous People of Biafra is not an unlawful organisation.
- “That the exparte application for the proscription of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its activities in the South Eastern states pursuant to which the order was granted, was politically motivated, and will in essence, amount to suppression of the wishes and aspirations of the Indigenous People of Biafra who are now being intimidated, using the state force, for expressing their disenchantment with the administration that has relegated them to third class citizens.”
- “The exparte order proscribing the activities of the respondent and declaring the respondent a terrorist organization is prejudicial to the subsisting criminal charge/trial pending before Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, in Charge No: FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015 between F.R.N. V. Nnamdi Kanu & 4 Ors, wherein the court had in the course of the proceedings, held that the Respondent is not an unlawful organization.
Proscription of IPOB: The Order Of Court
About IPOB
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) are seeking a referendum on Biafra independence from the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
IPOB claims to be the original inhabitants and the owners of the lands and communities of Biafra and Biafraland presently located in the South East region, some parts of South South region and some parts of the Middle Belt of Nigeria.
The group is led by Nnamdi Kanu, who holds dual citizenship being a Nigerian cum British national. Kanu is the director of Radio Biafra. He is facing a series of court cases in Nigeria, but currently on bail. Since the Nigerian military invaded his home on 14th September 2017, his whereabouts unknown.
