The Presidency has faulted
comments made by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, that the Nigerian Army
lacks the powers to declare the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) a terrorist
organisation.
The Special Assistant to
President Muhammadu Buhari on Prosecution, Okoi Obono-Obla, in a statement on
Tuesday, said the army’s decision was in order.
He queried Saraki’s legal right
to declare as illegal, any action taken by the executive or any of its agencies.
Obono-Obla, who drew a
distinction between proscription and declaration, said the Attorney General of
the Federation would soon apply for IPOB’s proscription in court.
He said: “The military, as part
of the executive branch of government, has the right to declare that IPOB is a
terrorist organization for the purpose of quelling the threat posed to national
security and corporate existence of the country by the unwholesome and
nefarious activities of the organization.
“So, there is nothing absolutely wrong
or unconstitutional for the military, for operational reason, to declare IPOB a
terrorist organization.
“Declaration of IPOB as a
terrorist organization does not amount to proscription of IPOB. Proscription of
IPOB will surely be in accordance with the procedure and processes underlined
in the provisions of Section 2 (1) of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2011.
“It provides thus: ‘Where two or
more persons associate for the purpose of or where an organization engages in:
*(a) participating or collaborating
in an act of terrorism;
*(b) promoting , encouraging or
exhorting others to commit an act of terrorism ; or (c) setting or pursuing
acts of terrorism, the judge in chambers may, on application made by the
Attorney General, the National Security Adviser or Inspector- General of
Police, on the approval of the President, declare any entity to be a proscribed
organization and the notice should be published in official gazette.’
“The military never proscribed
IPO, but only declared it a terrorist organization, because of the way and
manner it has been carrying out its activities.
“These include pelting stones and
cocktail Molotov bombs on convoys of military vehicles, burning of police
stations, killing of police officers, attacking and threatening Nigerians
living in Abia State, who do not subscribe to its separatist and militants
ideology, creating the Biafra Security Service and Biafra National Guard.”
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Really there's elements of terrorism there
ReplyDeleteIgnorance speaking
ReplyDelete