A recent Canadian court ruling branding Nigeria’s two main political parties — the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as terrorist organisations has triggered renewed calls for the federal government to reverse its proscription of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
IPOB’s Special Counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, in a post on X on Friday, said the judgment strengthens the United Nations’ 2020 advice to de-proscribe the separatist group.
“The Canadian declaration that APC is a terrorist entity makes it urgent for the Nigerian government to de-proscribe IPOB as the UN directed in 2020,” Ejimakor said.
UN’s Warning in 2020
The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms had in October 2020 warned that outlawing IPOB was a drastic legal step that infringed on political and association rights, stressing that peaceful self-determination movements should not be equated with terrorism.
The Rapporteur condemned Nigeria’s use of the Terrorism Prevention Act against IPOB, warning it could inflame ethnic and religious tensions and lead to further abuses, particularly against Igbo Christians.
Between 2015 and 2016, rights monitors reported that Nigerian security forces allegedly killed at least 100 IPOB members in various protests across Abia and Anambra states. The deadliest was in Onitsha in May 2016, where over 60 people were reportedly gunned down during Biafra Day commemorations.
From Protest to Proscription
Nigeria’s military declared IPOB a “militant terrorist organisation” in September 2017. Late President Muhammadu Buhari swiftly issued a proclamation seeking its proscription, which the Federal High Court in Abuja granted via an ex parte order.
READ ALSO: IPOB Blasts South-East Leaders for ‘Shameful’ Calls Urging Tinubu to Pardon Kanu
Since then, human rights bodies have documented arbitrary arrests, torture, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings of IPOB members and sympathisers.
Double Standards?
Ejimakor argued that Canada’s branding of APC and PDP as terrorist entities exposes a double standard in Nigeria’s counterterrorism policy.
“If Canada can call APC a terrorist entity, Nigeria has no legal or moral ground to keep IPOB on the terrorist list,” he said.
The UN had recommended that Nigeria use conventional criminal law to address any IPOB-related offences instead of blanket counterterrorism measures.
With Canada’s ruling now in the mix, pressure is mounting on Abuja to either stand firm or end a proscription critics say has done more to inflame tensions than resolve them.