The Nigerian Government is yet to officially declare bandits as terrorists three weeks after a Federal High Court ordered the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to do so.
The judgment was delivered on November 26, 2021.
However, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), is yet to gazette the order as ordered by the court, thereby failing to give life to the order.
Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja on November 26 granted an ex parte application by the Federal Government for Yan Bindiga (Hausa word for gunmen) and Yan Ta’adda (Hausa word for terrorists) to be declared as terrorists.
The court asked the AGF to publish the order in two national dailies and to also publish the order in the official gazette. Malami had in a statement promised to do so. However, this has not been done three weeks after.
Saturday PUNCH reports that in the case of the Indigenous People of Biafra, the AGF was able to gazette the designation of IPOB as terrorists on the same day that Justice Abdu Kafarati gave the order on September 20, 2017.
The document signed by the AGF was titled, ‘Terrorism (Prevention) (Proscription Order) Notice, 2017’ is contained in Volume 104 of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette.
It read in part, “The gazette, with commencement date of September 20, 2017, read in part, “Notice is hereby given that by the order of the Federal High Court, Abuja, in suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/871/2017, dated September 20, 2017 as per the schedule to this notice, the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra are declared to be terrorism and illegal in any part of Nigeria, especially in the South-East and South-South regions of Nigeria as proscribed, pursuant to Section 2 of the Terrorism (Prevention)Act, 2011 (as mended).”
