Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Five years after its proscription by the Federal Government, the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has engaged the services of Chukwuma-Machukwu Ume, SAN, to step up on their 2018 appeal, seeking the reversal of the proscription and the terrorist tag on the pro-Biafra movement.
Recall that when the proscription was made ex parte in October 2017, IPOB had then, approached the Court of Appeal insisting that the trial court was in error and praying that the lower court’s ex parte orders be set aside.
IPOB had proposed five grounds of reversal which included that the activities of the group were not within the definition of terrorism acts as enshrined in Section 2 (1)(a)(b) & (c) of the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act 2013, to warrant such proscription.
However, just recently, SAN Machukwu-Ume, was engaged based on the need for amendments of the existing grounds of arguments to help in a just and favorable determination of the pending appeal.
Machukwu-Umeh is leading a team of several lawyers that include IPOB’s senior principal lawyers, Aloy Ejimakor and Ifeanyi Ejiofor.
Based on court documents made available to our Correspondent by Barrister Aloy Ejimakor, the proposed amended notice and grounds of appeal (which are now 18 in total) accuse the Attorney General of the Federation of “looking the other way while the Fulani herdsmen are killing, maiming and kidnapping all over Nigeria but on the other hand applying to court to proscribe (appellants) IPOB that does not cause any violence.”
He, therefore, sought for an order granting leave to the appellant/applicant (IPOB) to amend its notice & grounds of appeal filed on 6th March 2018 by modifying the already existing five grounds of appeal and adding 13 more.
The senior lawyer argued that IPOB will be greatly prejudiced if the application is refused.
