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The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has expressed his displeasure and rejection of the failure of the Court of Appeal to hear the appeal challenging the proscription of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as a terrorist organisation by the Nigerian government.
The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal had in March fixed October 16 to hear the appeal filed by IPOB to challenge its proscription as a terrorist organisation.
However, Kanu’s lawyer, Barrister Aloy Ejimakor, on Monday said that the case filed in 2018 and marked CA/A/214/2018, was still listed for hearing as scheduled as of Friday when they checked the Registry, but they were surprised that when they got to the court, the case had been removed from the Registry without any communication of such change to them.
Ejimakor also said that the court did not give a new date to hear the appeal. He vowed that he would write the appellate court to get a new date which, according to him, must not be more than 10 days from Tuesday.
Ejimakor said, “The case was listed for hearing last on March 7 but was adjourned the same day without a hearing because of “election petitions”. Today was the next date and by Friday when we checked the Registry, it was on the cause list.
“But today, on arrival in Court, we were surprised when it was no longer on the cause list for today, and the reason again was ‘election petitions’.”
Ejimakor said that Kanu has decried the adjournment, alleging that the Court of Apeal’s refusal to hear the IPOB appeal challenging its proscription is an indirect affirmation of the “unjust” proscription.
He said, “I just exited from visitation with Nnamdi Kanu and he asked me to, on his behalf, publicly decry the adjournment (earlier today) of the appeal filed by IPOB against its proscription since 2018.
“The refusal to hear this appeal indirectly affirms the injustice of the proscription.”
Ejimakor however said that “We are submitting a letter tomorrow first light morning to strongly request a new date no later than 10 days from tomorrow.”
The Nigerian government under former President Muhammadu Buhari proscribed IPOB over its alleged killings and other atrocities in its agitation for the actualisation of Biafra Nation.
On January 18, 2018, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja held that the proscription of IPOB by former President Buhari's government was in order.
Justice Abdul Abdu-Kafarati of the Federal High Court proscribed IPOB based on the ex-parte motion filed by the then Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), on behalf of the Nigerian government, specifically declaring as illegal, all IPOB’s activities, particularly in the Southeast and South-South regions of Nigeria.
But the group approached the Court of Appeal insisting that the trial court erred in law, praying for the court to set aside the order of the lower court and the motion ex parte.
IPOB in its five grounds of appeal contended that Justice Abdu-Kafarati erred in law and occasioned a miscarriage of justice, when he ruled that the mandatory statutory condition requiring Buhari’s approval, under Section 2 (1) (C) of the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act, 2013, was satisfied, on the authority of a Memo the AGF issued on September 15, 2017.