Proscription of IPOB is an illegality - Ex-university VC Okafor
- Prof Ilochi Okafor, a former vice chancellor of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University says the proscription of IPOB is illegal
- Okafor says he is arguing from the point of the law as he stresses that the UN charter recognises such agitations
- However, the justice commissioner in Anambra, Anali Chude, thinks IPOB is an enemy for instructing residents to boycott the forthcoming election in the state
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Prof Ilochi Okafor, has described the proscription of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) by the federal government as illegal.
Okafor said IPOB has the right to agitate and that such an activity is recognised by the law.
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The professor and former vice chancellor of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, spoke in the Anambra state capital during the 2017/2018 legal year of its judiciary.
Okafor maintained the role of the military during the crisis was an aberration because the police never showed it lacked the powers to quell the agitation.
The Nigerian Tribune reports that Okafor wondered why the army would subject the defenceless and unarmed youths to physical torture and denigrating their dignity when their agitation is recognised as fundamental human rights in international law and United Nations charter.
“Despite the verbal violence and grandiose rhetoric of Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB is not a terrorist Origination. No person has been killed by IPOB.
“Its rallies have been heavily crowded but it has not been shown that any person carried or discharged weapons during the rallies,” he added.
However, at the same event, the Attorney-General of the state, Anali Chude, described IPOB as enemies.
“Enemies of the state wanted to take the advantage to plunge Anambra state into chaos by directing that elections will not hold in Anambra state.
“It is the stand of the state government that elections must hold in Anambra state.
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“We shall stand up to the occasion and refuse to allow people who do not wish Anambra State well to drag us into a situation whereby we will be turned into the guinea pig in Nigeria polity,” he said.
Legit.ng earlier reported that President Muhammadu Buhari might order the forfeiture of assets belonging to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to the federal government following the designation of the group as a terrorist organisation.
Watch this video as Nigerians react to Nnamdi Kanu's activities:
Source: Legit.ng
