The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal on Thursday, upheld an earlier judgement by a Federal High Court that proscribed the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) group and designated it as a terrorist organisation.
The Nigerian government under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari had in 2017, proscribed and outlawed IPOB’s activities in the country in a ruling issued by the late former Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Abdu-Kafarati, following an ex parte motion filed by the then Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN).
Dissatisfied by the judgement, the Igbo separatist group appealed the decision in case number CA/A/214/2018, urging the appellate court to nullify its classification as a terrorist organization.
However, in a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Hamma Barka, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal dismissed IPOB’s appeal and ruled in favour of the Federal Government, upholding the federal court ruling that the group was lawfully proscribed.
In the lead judgment, Justice Barka resolved all the issues raised for determination against IPOB, declared the appeal unmeritorious and dismissed it, holding that IPOB’s activities posed a threat to Nigeria’s national security and the safety of its citizens.
The panel also rejected IPOB’s argument that as an unregistered entity in Nigeria, it could not be legally prosecuted.
The court also rejected IPOB’s argument that the group is registered in over 40 countries around the world as that did not exempt it from legal liabilities under Nigerian law.
The court also directed the AGF to publish the ruling in two national newspapers and an online platform. IPOB’s motion to challenge the legal validity of the order was dismissed in January 2018.