The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) says it is surprised that Nigeria proscribed a “peaceful organisation”.

Reference:

• Nigerian defence headquarters declared IPOB a “militant terrorist organisation” – followed by the proscription of same by Southeast governors.
• Buhari took the heat off the Defence Headquarters and signed the declaration, which the AGF followed up and;
• A federal high court in Abuja upheld the declaration.

Reaction (IPOB):

• The federal government can testify that “crushing IPOB is not possible in this life”.
• The group accused Abdul Kafarati, the judge who gave the order, of compromise.
• It also said by granting the “obnoxious” order, the judge has “placed his judicial reputation on the line by openly siding with evil”.
• IPOB said its rallies are the most peaceful “with no recorded incident or fracas or lawlessness”, adding that “we have not killed anyone”.
• IPOB said calling its members terrorists is similar to blacklisting the whole indigenous people living in Biafraland.
• The group accused the federal government of lies and paid media attacks against it “in an effort to limit the damage they have inflicted on themselves”.

Key excerpts (a statement issued by Emma Powerful, its spokesman):

• “We must continue to ask what evidence led Justice Kafarati to bow to blackmail and pressure from DSS and Aso Rock to grant this order when the very brave Justice Binta Nyako ruled in the same high court sitting in Abuja that IPOB is not an illegal organisation.”
• “We are not terrorists and can never be because our struggle for Biafra self-determination is our undeniable right under United Nations and African Charter which Nigeria is a signatory to.”
• “With this development (the court order), the world can now clearly see there is something fundamentally wrong with the Nigerian psyche and its propensity to reward evil and punish good. Nigeria will go down in history as the only country on earth to proscribe a peaceful organisation whilst bloodthirsty violent marauders are given financial inducements to stop killing their innocent victims.”
• “…IPOB remains stronger than ever before. Nigerian government are the ones looking for an escape route out of the mess they plunged themselves into.”
• “…Biafrans must remain strong because our freedom is inevitable.”

Omoleye Omoruyi

Omoleye Omoruyi… an apprentice web/game developer, novelist, sensitive to happenings in the world. Meet him @Lord_rickie on Twitter/Instagram