Appeal Court upholds IPOB’s proscription as terrorist organisation

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld the Federal Government’s proscription of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as a terrorist group.

Delivering judgment on Thursday, a three-member panel led by Justice Hamma Barka unanimously affirmed the decision of the Federal High Court, which had declared IPOB an unlawful organization.

The appellate court ruled that there was no basis to overturn the proscription order, stating that the Federal Government acted within the law in banning IPOB due to its activities, which were deemed a threat to national security and unity. The court dismissed the group’s appeal for lacking merit.

The original proscription was issued on September 15, 2017, by the late former Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Abdul Abdu-Kafarati. This followed an ex-parte motion filed by the then-Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, on behalf of the government.

Justice Kafarati had declared IPOB’s activities illegal, particularly in the South-East and South-South regions, and barred individuals or groups from participating in its operations. He also directed the Attorney General to publish the proscription order in the official gazette and two national newspapers.

In January 2018, the court dismissed IPOB’s challenge against the proscription order, prompting the group to take the matter to the Court of Appeal.

In its appeal, IPOB, represented by a legal team led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria Chukwuma-Machukwu Umeh, argued that the proscription was obtained through misrepresentation of facts and amounted to labeling over 30 million Igbos as terrorists. However, the appellate court rejected the arguments and upheld the proscription.