IPOB Asks Court To Vacate Proscription Order

The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to vacate the order which declared it a terrorist group.

Recall that the court, presided by the Acting Chief Judge, Justice Abdu Kafarati, issued the proscription order following an ex parte application by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami.

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However, the group challenged the order in a motion filed by its lawyer, Mr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor, on Friday.

The group argued that the proscription order was unconstitutional, adding that order was made without jurisdiction “as the order was granted against an entity unknown to law”.

The grounds of the application read in part, “That the Exparte order made on the 20th day of September 2017, by this Honourable Court was made without jurisdiction, as the order was granted against an entity unknown to law.

“That there is a clear suppression and misrepresentation of facts in the Attorney General Affidavit evidence, pursuance to which the Order was granted.

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“That the Order is unconstitutional, as it was made in clear violation of the constitutionally guaranteed right of the Indigenous People of Biafra to self determination; Article 20(1) of the Africa Charter on Human & Peoples Rights, now domesticated into our Law under (Ratification and Enforcement Act) (Cap 10) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990; Right to fair hearing, Right to freedoms of expression, and the press and Rights to peaceful Assembly and Association; clearly provided for under Sections 36, 39 and 40 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as (Amended) 2011.

“That a declaratory order cannot be made pursuant to an Exparte Application, without hearing from the party against whom the order was made.

“The Indigenous People of Biafra who are majorly of Igbo extraction, have no history of violence in the exercise of their right to self determination.”

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