By Lukman Olabiyi, Lagos, Aloysius Attah, Onitsha, Geoffrey Anyanwu, Awka
Rights activists and lawyers have picked holes in the order granted by the Federal High Court, Abuja, declaring the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) a terrorist organisation.
On Wednesday, September 20, 2017, the Federal Government through the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), filed a suit seeking an order to proscribe the group.
Reviewing the order, Ebun-olu Adegboruwa, Chief Charles Enwulunta and Dele Igbinedion knocked the Federal Government, saying it took the right step in the wrong direction.
The lawyers submitted that the order granted and indeed all the proceedings in the case, constituted a gross abuse of the process, as the Court had no jurisdiction to entertain let alone adjudicate on it.
Specifically, Adegboruwa noted that the suit was not initiated following due process of law, as stated by the Supreme Court in the locus classicus case of Madukolu v Nkemdilim (1962) 2 SCNLR 341. He argued that the suit filed and the orders granted have no foundation upon which they could stand and be maintained or enforced.
“The supposed defendant in the case is the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which is not a registered entity in law. And even if it is registered, it can only be sued in the name of its incorporated trustees or indeed its accredited representatives.
“Furthermore, unlike other associations like the Nigerian Bar Association, IPOB is not recognised or mentioned or legitimised in any existing statute.
“For a suit to be competent, there must be proper parties before the court. In this case, the supposed defendant, IPOB, is a non juristic person against which no action can be maintained in any court of law,” he said.
Igbinedion also aligned himself with the position of Adegboruwa, stating that if the order was not challenged by the affected people, it would set a bad precedent. He said FG ought to have put other party on notice in order to hit the nail at the head.
“Proscription doesn’t mean members cannot form another group and continue their agitation,” he said. Chief Enwulunta agreed that the order would not stand if challenged at the superior court.
However, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Seyi Sowemimo, faulted his colleagues. According to him, the issue in question bordered on Anti-Terrorism Act and in granting the order the court must consider what the act says.
“To me, FG is on point and the order will hold water. Whoever is not pleased should come out openly and admit that he or she is a terrorist,” he said.
In its reaction, the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Idemili Branch, Anambra State, faulted the deployment of troops in Abia State, the proscription of IPOB and its designation as a terrorist group.
Mr. Samuel Chukwukelu, chairman of the branch, who spoke in a press conference at Ogidi High Court, described the ex parte court injunction obtained by the AGF against IPOB as an afterthought noting that such moves was done to escape the hammer of the international community which would ordinary blame the Nigerian government for unconstitutionalism and illegalities.
He said NBA would put a process in motion in due course to challenge the various unlawful actions and called on the Federal Government to fish out those involved in killing Igbo youths in Abia State and ensure they were punished.
Meanwhile, IPOB said with the proscription, the Federal Government has put its name in world history as a country that “hobnobs with blood thirsty group and proscribes a peaceful one.”
In a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, the group wondered why it was labeled a terrorist organisation when it is unarmed and peaceful while Boko Haram group that has killed thousands of people was being given money by government to pacify them.
According to him, it had become clear to the entire world that Nigeria reward evil and punish good, adding that it was baffling that IPOB, which Justice Binta Nyako of the same Court declared legal was being labeled a terrorist organisation.