We are not a terrorist group; the black market was the reason for proscription – IPOB

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 he 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.

Powerful states: “We, the international movement and family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), ably led by the great and unstoppable liberator Mazi Nnamdi Okwuchukwu KANU, commend the historic ruling rendered on October 26, 2023, by Hon. Justice A. Onovo of the Enugu State High Court, which released IPOB from the prohibition against the black market.”

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“Especially in the instances involving IPOB in Nigeria, Justice A. Onovo has shown the world that there are still judges who are prepared to protect justice even in the face of executive intimidation of the court.

“IPOB also commends IPOB legal teams for their tenacity and focus in providing legal services, as well as their legal acumen. IPOB attorneys are not quota system attorneys; rather, they are men and women with legal knowledge. In their own courts, they have been triumphing over the Nigerian government.

This is the rationale behind the Nigerian Federal Government’s retreat from challenging IPOB’s black market proscription decision in the Appeal Court, which was issued by Judge Abdul Kafarati. However, the evil black market proscription decree is now void due to a recent ruling by Justice Onovo of the Enugu State High Court.

The Enugu High Court’s Justice Onovo recently rendered a decision clearing IPOB of the derogatory terrorist label that the Nigerian government had maliciously attached to the nonviolent movement in order to justify its brutal crackdown. IPOB does not qualify as a terrorist organisation under international law or before the international community.

“Those who rejoiced when the Fulani Government of Nigeria, through an ethnically biassed Justice Kafarati, levelled a black-market proscription against IPOB are now ashamed of themselves, especially those compromised media houses linking and tagging IPOB as a proscribed Organisations.”