The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), through its legal representative Onyedikachi Ifedi Esq., has called on editors of Nigerian media houses to immediately desist from describing the group as a “proscribed” or “banned” organization.

In an open letter addressed to all editors across the country, IPOB stated that such descriptions are “false, defamatory, and unsupported by any law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” arguing that the repeal of the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act 2013 has rendered the proscription order null and void.

According to the statement, IPOB was only proscribed under the 2013 amendment, which has since been repealed and replaced by the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022. Section 49 of the new Act, the letter stressed, extinguished the earlier law, leaving no legal basis for IPOB’s continued classification as a banned group.

Citing judicial authorities, including A.G. Federation v. Abubakar (2007) and Udoh v. Orthopedic Hospitals Management Board (1993), the group argued that once a statute is repealed, all subsidiary orders or declarations made under it automatically collapse unless expressly preserved.

“The media’s continued labeling of IPOB as proscribed is misleading, defamatory, and amounts to supporting governmental propaganda at the expense of truth and justice,” the statement read.

The group further reminded the Nigerian press of its constitutional duty under Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution to uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people.

IPOB therefore demanded that all media houses immediately correct the record and stop referring to the organization as banned, warning that failure to do so could lead to legal action, including defamation proceedings.

“In law today, IPOB is neither proscribed nor criminalized,” the letter concluded.