Appeal Court Affirms Order Proscribing IPOB As Terrorist Group
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has been declared a terrorist organization by the Court of Appeal Abuja.
The Federal High Court’s decision, which outlawed the IPOB, was confirmed by a three-member panel led by Justice Hamma Barka, in a unanimous decision.
The court determined that there was no justification for the Federal Government’s decision to put the group on hold.
The FG allegedly acted legally by interfering with the group, whose activities threatened the country’s security and continued existence.
It resolved all the issues with the IPOB and dropped its appeal due to merit.
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The late former Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Abdul Abdu-Kafarati, had in a ruling he delivered on September 15, 2017, outlawed the activities of the IPOB in Nigeria.
The proscription order followed an ex-parte motion the former Attorney-General of Federation and Minister of Justice, Mister Abubakar Malami, filed on behalf of the Federal Government.
Specifically, Justice Kafafati declared as illegal, all activities of the group, particularly in the South-east and South-South regions of the country.
Further, he forbids “anyone or group of people from engaging in any of the group’s activities.”
The AGF was given the task of publishing the proscription order in two national newspapers as well as the official gazette.
A motion IPOB filed to challenge the legality of the proscription order, which the court claimed was obtained secretly by the AGF, was overturned in a follow-up ruling on January 22, 2018.
The IPOB requested that the decisions be overturned by the appellate court after being unhappy with them.
The organization, in its appeal which it filed through its team of lawyers led by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Mr. Chukwuma-Machukwu Umeh, urged the appellate court to set aside in its entirety, the ruling/final decision of the high court.
Source: Channels TV
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