Appeal Court affirms IPOB’s proscription as terrorist group

The Court of Appeal in Abuja, on Thursday, affirmed the proscription of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its designation as a terrorist organisation.

IPOB is a group leading agitation for an independent state of Biafra which it wants carved out from the south-east and some parts of south-south Nigeria.

The Nigerian government, under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in 2017, proscribed the separatist group.

A Federal High Court in Abuja formalised the proscription and tagged the group a terrorist organisation.

IPOB and its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, have been challenging the proscription of the group in several Nigerian courts.

In October 2023, a State High Court in Enugu nullified the proscription and the designation as a terrorist group.

Proscription affirmed

But the Court of Appeal, in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel headed by Justice Hamma Barka, affirmed the judgement of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which outlawed IPOB, Vanguard Newspaper reported.

The court held that it found no reason to set aside the order the federal government secured against the separatist group.

Justice Barka ruled that the federal government acted lawfully by proscribing IPOP whose activities threaten the nation’s security and continued existence.

He resolved all the issues against IPOB and dismissed its appeal for want of merit.

Background

In September 2017, the then-president, Mr Buhari, signed a presidential proclamation proscribing IPOB.

Also in September 2017, a Federal High Court in Abuja formalised IPOB’s proscription and tagged the group a terrorist organisation.

The then Acting Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Abdul Kafarati, granted the order proscribing the group.

The order followed an application filed and moved by the then Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

The South-east Governors Forum later announced that they had proscribed the group in the region.

IPOB, through its legal team, challenged the proscription in courts for several years without success.

But on 23 October 2023, a State High Court in Enugu, nullified the proscription of IPOB, consequently destroying the basis upon which the separatist group was declared a terrorist organisation by the Nigerian government.

The IPOB leader, Mr Kanu, filed the suit in January 2023 against the Nigerian government and the South-East Governors’ Forum.

The judge, A.O. Onovo, in his judgment, declared that the reliance on the country’s Terrorism Prevention Act and the administrative action of the South-east Governors’ Forum and the federal government to proscribe IPOB contravened Section 42 of the Nigerian Constitution which prohibits discrimination on the basis of ethnicity.

Justice Onovo held that the proscription of IPOB was also a violation of Mr Kanu’s fundamental rights as enshrined under Articles 2,3,19 and 20 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Enforcement and Ratification) Act.

Thursday’s appeal court ruling means IPOB remains proscribed. However, the group and its leader may appeal the ruling at the Supreme Court.