Appeal court upholds IPOB’s proscription
The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, on Thursday, upheld the proscription declaration of the Indigenous People of Biafra, naming it a terrorist organisation.
Recall that on January 18, 2018, the late former Chief Judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, Justice Adamu Abdu-Kafarati, had proscribed IPOB.
Aggrieved by this declaration, IPOB appealed the declaration.
IPOB, in the appeal marked CA/A/214/2018, challenged its proscription as a terrorist organisation by the Federal Government.
It prayed to the Court of Appeal to nullify, in its entirety, the ruling of the trial court, which, on September 15, 2017, outlawed its activities in Nigeria.
The trial court proscribed IPOB following an ex-parte motion filed by the immediate past Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN, on behalf of the Federal Government.
Justice Abdu-Kafarati, in a ruling, declared all IPOB activities as illegal, specifically the group’s activities in the South-east and South-South regions of the country.
He restrained any person or group of persons from participating in any of the group’s activities.
He further held that he was satisfied that IPOB constituted a threat to national security while he dismissed the argument that the group, not being a registered entity in Nigeria, could not be validly sued by the fedcral government.
Justice Abdu-Kafarati held that the fact that IPOB claimed that it was registered in over 40 countries in the world aside from Nigeria, did not exculpate it from legal liabilities if it was found to have by its activities violated any law in Nigeria.
The late CJ directed the AGF to publish the order proscribing the group in two national dailies and an online platform.
On January 22, 2018, in another ruling, the court dismissed a motion IPOB filed to challenge the legal validity of the proscription order which the group claimed was surreptitiously obtained by the AGF.
In a judgment on Thursday, a three-member panel of the appellate court in a unanimous decision, held that the federal government acted lawfully in proscribing the group.
The appellate court also held that the activities of IPOB threatened the nation’s continued existence and the security of citizens.
In the lead judgment, delivered by Justice Hamma Barka, the Court of Appeal resolved all the issues raised for determination against the appellant (IPOB).
The court declared the appeal unmeritorious and dismissed it.
