The Court of Appeal in Abuja has adjourned until October 31 the hearing of an appeal filed by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) contesting its designation as a terrorist organization by the Federal Government.
The three-member panel of judges scheduled the hearing after directing both parties to file and exchange all necessary legal documents regarding the case. Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of IPOB, has previously applied to be included as an interested party in the appeal, which is registered as FHC/CA/A/214/2018.
Through its legal representative, Mr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor, IPOB is seeking to overturn the ruling issued by the late former Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Abdul Abdu-Kafarati, which outlawed its activities in Nigeria on September 15, 2017. This ruling came as a result of an ex-parte motion filed by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, on behalf of the federal government.
In his ruling, Justice Kafarati declared all activities of IPOB illegal, particularly in the southeastern and south-southern regions of Nigeria, and prohibited "any person or group of persons from participating in any of the group's activities." He also ordered the Attorney General to publish the proscription in the official gazette and two national newspapers.
In a follow-up decision on January 22, 2018, the court dismissed IPOB's motion challenging the legality of the proscription order, which it claimed had been improperly obtained. IPOB argued that the Attorney General misrepresented facts in his affidavit, asserting that the order effectively labeled over 30 million Nigerians of Igbo descent as terrorists.
In dismissing the motion, Justice Abdu-Kafarati expressed satisfaction that IPOB posed a threat to national security. He refuted Ejiofor's claim that IPOB, not being a registered entity in Nigeria, could not be validly sued by the federal government. The court asserted that IPOB's claim of being registered in over 40 countries did not absolve it from legal responsibilities for any actions violating Nigerian law.
In its appeal, IPOB presented five grounds contesting the ruling. The group contended that Justice Abdu-Kafarati made legal errors that resulted in a miscarriage of justice by ruling that the statutory requirement for President Muhammadu Buhari's approval under Section 2 (1) (C) of the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act, 2013, was met based on a memo issued by the Attorney General on September 15, 2017.
The appeal further argued that the lower court failed to adequately assess or acknowledge affidavit evidence demonstrating that IPOB is not a violent organization. IPOB maintained, "Proper findings of facts built on a meticulous evaluation of Affidavit evidence placed before the Court below, will resolve whether the activities and characters of the Appellant as clearly distinguished via compelling exhibits placed before the Court, meet the threshold definition of terrorism acts, as contemplated under Section 2 (i) (a) (b) & (c) of the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act, 2013."
Moreover, IPOB asserted that its activities, as presented in its submissions, do not amount to acts of terrorism as defined by the relevant sections of the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act, a point overlooked by the lower court judge. The group described itself as "a collective of individuals with shared political beliefs, largely consisting of indigenous people of Igbo extraction and neighboring regions, exercising their constitutional rights to self-determination in accordance with international instruments and conventions.
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