•Nigerian soldiers
The military high command says the Court of Appeal’s affirmation of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as a terrorists’ group is a morale booster.
It specifically stated that the ruling by the court would motivate the military through its frontline troops to expedite action in destroying and dismantling the terror group wherever they may be hiding, reports Daily Trust.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja, in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel headed by Justice Hamma Barka, on Thursday, affirmed the proscription of IPOB and its designation as a terrorist organisation.
IPOB is a group leading separatist group agitating for an independent state of Biafra which it wants carved out from the South East region and some parts of South-South Nigeria.
The federal government, under the immediate-past President, Muhammadu Buhari in 2017, proscribed the separatist group, a Federal High Court in Abuja formalised the proscription and tagged it a terrorist organisation.
The group and its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, had been challenging the proscription of the group in different courts, and a State High Court in Enugu nullified the proscription and the designation as a terrorist group in October 2023.
In an exclusive chat with our correspondent, the outgoing Director, Defence Media Operations, Edward Buba, said the Appeal Court ruling was indeed a welcome development and a morale booster for the troops.
Buba, a Major-General said, “The armed forces applauds the recent Appeal Court Ruling affirming the earlier declaration of IPOB as a terrorists’ group.
“The ruling is indeed a welcomed development that further motivates troops to expedite action in destroying and dismantling the IPOB terror group and their ESN cohorts.”
