By Milcah Tanimu

A High Court sitting in Enugu has declared as unconstitutional the proscription and designation of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as a terrorist organization by the Federal Government and the South East Governors. This ruling followed a suit brought before the court by IPOB’s legal team challenging the 2017 proscription of IPOB as a terror organization.

Justice A. O Onovo, in delivering the judgment, declared that “the practical application of the Terrorism Prevention Act and the executive or administrative action of the Respondents (Southeast Governors Forum and the Federal Government) which directly led to the proscription of IPOB and its listing as a terrorist group” was unconstitutional.

The Court further held that “IPOB, being comprised of citizens of Nigeria of the Igbo and other Eastern Nigerian ethnic groups, professing the political opinion of self-determination and the consequent arrest, detention, and prosecution of the Applicant (Mazi Nnamdi Kanu) as a member/leader of said IPOB is illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional and amounts to infringement of the Applicant’s fundamental right not to be subjected to any disabilities or restrictions based on his ethnicity.”

The judgment also ordered the Respondents to issue an official letter of apology to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu for the infringement of his fundamental rights and to pay him monetary damages of Eight Billion Naira for the physical, mental, emotional, psychological, property, and other damages suffered as a result of the infringements of his fundamental rights.

This decision marks a significant victory for Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB in their legal battle against the proscription and designation as a terrorist organization.

The ruling was a sequel to a suit brought before the court by the IPOB legal team challenging the 2017 proscription of IPOB as a terror organisation.

Justice A. O Onovo, while delivering judgment on the suit marked E/20/2023, declared that “the practical application of the Terrorism Prevention Act and the executive or administrative action of the Respondents (Southeast Governors Forum and the Federal Government) which directly led to the proscription of IPOB and its listing as a terrorist group”, was unconstitutional.

The Court according to a release by Ejimakor further held that “IPOB being comprised of citizens of Nigeria of the Igbo and other Eastern Nigerian ethnic groups, professing the political opinion of self-determination and the consequent arrest, detention and prosecution of the Applicant (MAZI NNAMDI KANU) as a member/leader of said IPOB is illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional and amounts to infringement of the Applicant’s fundamental right not to be subjected to any disabilities or restrictions based on his ethnicity as enshrined and guaranteed under Section 42 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and his fundamental rights as enshrined under Articles 2,3,19 &20 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Enforcement and Ratification) Act.

The release made available to Vanguard further read: “Today, I led a team of lawyers to a landmark victory before the High Court of Enugu State in SUIT NO: E/20/2023 filed in January 2023 against the Southeast Governors’ Forum and the FG (Respondents) for their collective executive actions (in 2017) that led to the proscription of IPOB and declaring it a terrorist group in contravention of Section 42 of the Constitution which prohibits discrimination based on ethnicity.

“In a well-considered judgment that lasted for over three hours, the High Court (coram Justice A.O. Onovo) granted the following Reliefs: ‘that self-determination is not a crime and thus cannot be used as a…