The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPoB) has said that, despite over four years of trial and multiple amended charges, the Federal Government has failed to present any credible or admissible evidence directly linking the pro-Biafran leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to any act of terrorism, incitement, or violence.
In a press statement on behalf of the IPoB’s Directorate of Legal Affairs, Research and Global Communications, on Monday, Onyekachi Ifedi said that it has become necessary to address what he called ‘the ongoing misinformation, politically motivated media headlines, and deliberate distortions of facts’ regarding the ongoing trial of Kanu.
Ifedi, however, urged the public, media houses, and civil society groups to rely on verified legal facts and not propaganda, insisting that no case has been made against Kanu.
He called on the Federal Government to stop persecuting Kanu on the basis of ‘outdated laws’ and ‘prejudicial narratives’, adding that all charges against Kanu were legally incompetent.
According to him, the Federal Government should respect due process and fundamental rights and stop persecuting the IPoB leader on the basis of outdated laws and prejudicial narratives and propaganda war.
The statement said: ‘The Directorate of Legal Affairs and Global Communications issues this public statement to address ongoing misinformation, politically motivated headlines, and deliberate distortions regarding the ongoing trial of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. We urge the public, media houses, and civil society to rely on verified legal facts, not propaganda.
‘Despite over four years of trial and multiple amended charges, the Federal Government has failed to present any credible or admissible evidence directly linking Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to any act of terrorism, incitement, or violence.
‘No named victims. No forensic or material evidence. No direct testimony by alleged security victims or affected civilians. All charges were filed under laws repealed in 2022. Nigeria’s Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2013 is no longer in force.
‘The charge that Kanu imported a transmitter in 2015 to promote terrorism is legally incompetent. No proof of concealment. No customs or regulatory documentation presented. The applicable law — Customs and Excise Management Act (CEMA) was repealed in 2023. The court’s amendment of the charge from “criminal code” to CEMA was never properly endorsed on the charge sheet — a fatal procedural error’.
The group, therefore, insisted that it is not an ‘unlawful’ society, adding that the Federal Government’s subsequent proscription of IPoB was obtained ex parte — without notifying or hearing from IPoB and this violates the Nigerian Constitution and international law.
On 15 September 2017, the then Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Abdul Abdu-Kafarati (who died 25 February 2021) outlawed the activities of IPoB in Nigeria.
The proscription order followed an ex-parte motion the then Attorney-General of Federation and Minister of Justice, Mallam Abubakar Malami, filed on behalf of the Federal Government. Specifically, Justice Kafafati declared as illegal, all activities of the group, particularly in the Southeast and South-South regions of the country.
Ifedi further said: ‘Efforts to link Kanu or IPoB to the #EndSARS protests are false and defamatory. The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry clearly indicted Nigerian security forces, not IPoB, for the violence and killings associated with #EndSARS.
‘Kanu was abducted in Kenya and brought to Nigeria without any extradition hearing. This act of extraordinary rendition is illegal under Nigerian law, the African Charter, and international norms. The Supreme Court of Nigeria has long held that such conduct can void prosecution’.
The group, therefore, called for the upholding of the constitutional imperative that ‘justice must not only be done, but be seen to be done’, while urging journalists, human rights defenders, and the international community to scrutinise this case and advocate for justice grounded in truth and the rule of law.
