The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) once again rise to confront the Nigerian state and its morally bankrupt judiciary with one incontrovertible truth: the proscription of IPOB is a criminal enterprise, an executive fraud, and an unforgivable betrayal of the Nigerian Constitution. This is not merely a political injustice. It is a crime against the law.

 

NO ACT OF TERROR. NO BASIS FOR PROSCRIPTION.

We issue a global challenge: Point to one terrorist act committed by IPOB prior to its proscription in September of 2017. Just one. There is none. The proscription was not the result of any unlawful conduct, but rather, a product of ethnic hatred, political jealousy, and unrestrained abuse of judicial processes.

Driven by ethnic venom and colonial-era fear of the name “Biafra,” Abubakar Malami, the then Attorney-General, bypassed every legal standard and ran to a complicit judge, Justice Abdul Kafarati, to procure a proscription order via an ex parte application, in clear violation of Section 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

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THE CONSTITUTIONAL CRIME: SECTION 36(1) VIOLATED

The Constitution could not be clearer:

Section 36(1): “In the determination of his civil rights and obligations, including any question or determination by or against any government or authority, a person shall be entitled to a fair hearing within a reasonable time by a court or other tribunal established by law and constituted in such manner as to secure its independence and impartiality.”

Yet IPOB, a peaceful and lawful movement, was criminalized without notice, without hearing, and without trial.

 

A NON-DEROGABLE RIGHT IGNORED

The law makes it impossible to suspend this right—even in war:

Section 45(1) & (2): While some rights may be restricted in the interest of national security, Section 36 rights to fair hearing are protected under Section 45(2), which reads:

“Nothing in this section shall be construed as derogating from the provisions of section 36(8) of this Constitution.”

 

And Section 36(8) further provides:

“No person shall be held to be guilty of a criminal offence… unless that offence is defined and the penalty is prescribed in a written law…”

In other words, you cannot punish, proscribe, or criminalize a group or individual without placing them on notice, giving them a hearing, and defining an offence under law. Yet, Nigeria committed this constitutional heresy in broad daylight.

 

THE UNANSWERED QUESTION: WHY NO APPEAL?

In a valid, adversarial, and fully argued court decision, the Federal High Court ruled that IPOB is not an unlawful society.
That ruling was never appealed. It remains the law, binding on all parties. So why did the same government go forum shopping to get Justice Kafarati to issue a contradictory ruling without hearing from IPOB? This is the very definition of judicial ambush—a forum-shopped, politically engineered travesty.

 

IPOB IS PEACEFUL. BIAFRA IS A RIGHT, NOT A CRIME.

The only “crime” IPOB committed was daring to peacefully advocate for Biafra. We did not kill. We did not bomb. We did not burn. But we were punished—because we are Igbo. Because we dared to speak the name Biafra.

The same judiciary which held IPOB is not unlawful cannot turn around to criminalize it through the back door. That’s not law. That’s injustice dressed in legal robes.

 

WHEN CONSTITUTIONAL CRIMES ARE SANCTIFIED BY THE COURT

Justice Kafarati’s ex parte order is not only unlawful—it is a betrayal of the very Constitution he swore to uphold. And the Court of Appeal, by affirming that fraudulent order, has implicated itself in the erosion of Nigeria’s constitutional democracy.

Let it be declared: You cannot use “national security” as an excuse to suspend constitutional rights that are clearly marked “non-derogable.” You cannot criminalize a peaceful group without evidence and call it law. You cannot ignore Section 36 and still claim to be a country governed by the rule of law.

 

THE QUESTION THAT MUST BE ANSWERED

Henceforth, every Nigerian, every journalist, every judge, every politician must answer this question:

“Where is the evidence that justified the proscription of IPOB in 2017?”

Because if there is no evidence—and indeed there is none—then the proscription is not just illegal; it is criminal.

 

CONCLUSION: JUSTICE WILL NOT BE SILENCED

IPOB and Mazi Nnamdi Kanu stand today as the only political defendants in the history of Nigeria being prosecuted without a shred of evidence—only tribal hatred and fear of the truth. The world must know that IPOB was proscribed not for what it did, but for what it dared to dream: Biafra.

We will remain peaceful. We will remain focused. But we will not be silent. No amount of judicial fraud, executive violence, or media blackmail will erase our identity, destroy our resolve, or suppress our truth.

Let the Constitution speak. Let justice prevail. Let Biafra rise.

 

COMRADE EMMA POWERFUL SPOKESPERSON/MEDIA AND PUBLICITY SECRETARY FOR IPOB.