On Saturday, the Indigenous People of Biafra, or IPOB, declared that they are not a terrorist group.
The statement was made by IPOB spokesperson Emma Powerful as she praised Justice A. Onovo of the Enugu High Court for lifting the separatist group’s proscription.
IPOB referred to Justice Abdul Kafarati’s prohibition of it as the “black market.”
IPOB was banned by Justice Kafarati in 2017 as a result of the group’s calls for Biafra and, consequently, the dissolution of Nigeria.
Judge Onovo, however, reversed the decision and mandated that the Southeast governors compensate Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of IPOB, with N8 billion.
Responding, Strong expressed regret over the fact that most judges had broken the law as a result of being coerced into continuing injustices committed against IPOB members.
Strong pointed out that IPOB cases had demonstrated the shortcomings of Nigeria’s legal system, which has made Nigeria look foolish in the eyes of the world.
According to Powerful:
“We, the global movement and family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), ably led by the great and indefatigable liberator Mazi Nnamdi Okwuchukwu KANU commend the landmark judgement by Hon. Justice A. Onovo of Enugu State High Court on October 26, 2023, which absolved IPOB from the black market Proscription.
“Justice A. Onovo has demonstrated to the world that there are still judges who are willing to uphold justice even in the face of executive intimidation of the judiciary, particularly on the cases involving IPOB in Nigeria.
“IPOB equally commend IPOB legal teams for their legal astuteness and also being resolute and focused in their legal services. IPOB lawyers are men and women who understand the law, not quota system lawyers. They have been defeating the Nigerian government in their own courts.
“That is the reason the Federal Government of Nigeria has been running away from defending the black market proscription order of Justice Abdul Kafarati against IPOB in the Appeal Court. Nevertheless, the latest judgment from Justice Onovo of Enugu State High Court has made the wicked black market proscription order null and void.
“This recent judgment from Justice Onovo of Enugu High Court has exonerated IPOB of obnoxious terrorist tag that the Nigeria government wickedly hung on the peaceful movement as a justification for violent suppression. In the eyes of the law and before the International Community, IPOB is not a terrorist organization.
“Those who jubilated when the black-market proscription was leveled against IPOB by the Fulani Government of Nigeria using an ethnic biased Justice Kafarati are now ashamed of themselves, especially those compromised media houses linking and tagging IPOB as a proscribed Organizations.”