IPOB Lawyer Denies Role In Proscription Suit, Accuses Nnamdi Kanu’s Counsel Of Linking Him To Failure

 

Lawyer Ifeanyi Ejiofor has denied involvement in the appeal against the proscription of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

While Ejiofor is listed as the lawyer for IPOB, Aloy Ejimakor is noted as the lawyer for the group’s leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

Ejiofor’s stance on not participating in the proscription case was communicated in a statement issued on Sunday.

He said, “My attention has been drawn to a misleading tweet by Aloy Ejimakor, which seeks to misrepresent facts and mischievously associate my name with the recent concluded Appeal on IPOB proscription, which judgment was handed down on the 30th day of January 2025.”

According to him, he had no involvement in the conduct of the appeal after “it was clandestinely taken over from me by Machukwu Ume SAN and Aloy Ejimakor, in 2022.”

 

He further noted that “their legal team amended the entire processes which was filed on Appeal, including our briefs and consequently introduced additional grounds of appeal the basis of which I am not in a position to explain, particularly regarding the ground(s) for their abysmal outing/dismissal of the Appeal.”

 

He noted that he asked the legal team not to involve his name in the process, saying, “When their gimmicks became obvious that they were routing towards taking over the Appeal, I specifically but respectfully requested the learned Senior Advocate leading them, not to include my name on any processes they are filing, and clearly informed him that I have respectfully taken a bow.

“The records are clear – Aloy Ejimakor, who is now attempting to cause mischief by deceptively including my name in their woeful outing on Appeal, has consistently provided updates on the progress of the Appeal when they were effectively prosecuting it, without ever mentioning me.

“It is therefore suspicious that he now seeks to involve me after the Appeal’s dismissal, by publishing a document wherein my name curiously appears in the list of those who represented the Appellant.

“As the primary force behind taking over the Appeal, Aloy Ejimakor and his team are fully responsible for its outcome. He should be held accountable for details of what happened in their case on Appeal, what led to their unsuccessful Appeal, rather than dragging my name into his failed legal outing. I urge him to refrain from associating me with his missteps and to take responsibility for his actions.”

He accused Ejimakor of planning to associate him with failure.

He said, “I am not surprised that the master strategist is relentlessly seeking to associate me with failure, for which I will profusely resist and reject.”

“Let it be clear that I distance myself from the proceedings and the outcome of the Appeal. Any attempt to mislead the public by linking me to it in any way, is both deceptive and unacceptable, and will not be treated with kids’ glove,” he noted.

On Thursday, the Court of Appeal in Abuja upheld the proscription order designating the IPOB as a terrorist organisation.

A three-member panel of justices, led by Justice Hamma Barka, unanimously rejected IPOB’s appeal and affirmed the Federal High Court’s judgment, which outlawed the group.

The court ruled that the Federal Government acted lawfully in proscribing the organisation, citing its activities as a threat to national security and continued existence.

Consequently, the appeal was dismissed for lack of merit.