The legal team representing Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has secured a court order challenging the group’s designation as a terrorist organization by the Nigerian government. This development comes amid ongoing legal proceedings surrounding Kanu and renewed debate about the nature of IPOB.
A statement signed by Aloy Ejimakor, Esq., on Friday, explained that the team was under firm instructions from Kanu, to issue the final warning to all persons and institutions still referring to IPOB as a terrorist organisation.
Kanu’s lawyers argue that the government’s proscription of IPOB in 2017 violated fundamental human rights and lacked due process.
The team threatened to sue anyone found contravening the court order.
“Henceforth, any further reference to IPOB as a terrorist organization will be met and countervailed with a muscular litigation and other lawful measures, regardless of who the entity is.
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“This is because there is a subsisting Judgment of a competent High Court in Nigeria (attached herewith) which ruled that IPOB’s proscription/declaration as a terrorist group by Buhari is illegal, discriminatory and unconstitutional,” the statement read in part, insisting that compliance with the Judgment strictly demands that IPOB, should no longer be referred to as a terrorist organisation.
“Additionally, those calling IPOB a terrorist organization have not adduced a scintilla of evidence that IPOB has ever engaged in any terrorist activity.
“This is underscored by the verifiable fact that since the so-called proscription of IPOB in 2017, no single alleged IPOB member has been convicted of any terrorist act, despite thousands of arrests, abductions, horrendous torture, false flags and extrajudicial killings levied against its alleged members,” it wrote.
The classification of IPOB as a terrorist group remains a point of contention. The Nigerian government maintains that the group’s rhetoric and alleged involvement in violent acts justify the label.
However, IPOB and its supporters maintain that the group is a peaceful, self-determination movement seeking an independent Biafra.
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