The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has accused the Federal High Court in Abuja of weaponising the judiciary against Igbos after the court sentenced 48-year-old Paul Okechukwu to 20 years in prison for alleged membership of the separatist group.
In a statement issued on Friday by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, IPOB described the conviction as “a disgrace to constitutional governance” and claimed the court has become a “rubber-stamp clearinghouse for executive repression.”
The group said the prosecution withdrew a count alleging an attack after failing to link Okechukwu to any violent act, leaving only the membership charge as the basis for the 20-year sentence.
“Twenty years in prison is not an abstract legal exercise. It is two decades stolen from a man’s life, his family, and his humanity,” IPOB said.
IPOB alleged that Okechukwu was convicted under Section 16 of the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act 2013, which it claimed has been repealed by later legislation. The group specifically criticised Justice Hauwa Yilwa for relying on what it called a “dead” law.
It also pointed to the November 20, 2025 judgment by Justice James Omotosho in the terrorism trial of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu, saying that ruling similarly relied on the 2013 amendment.
Citing Section 36(12) of the 1999 Constitution, which prohibits conviction under a non-existent written law, IPOB argued that savings provisions could preserve pending cases but could not revive a repealed penal statute as the basis for a fresh conviction.
The group further challenged the legal basis of the Nigerian government’s proscription of IPOB. It cited a March 2, 2017 ruling by Justice Binta Nyako, which it said found the group was not unlawful after hearing arguments from both sides. IPOB alleged that authorities later obtained an ex parte proscription order from the late Justice Abdul Abdu-Kafarati in September 2017 without notifying the group.
IPOB questioned how a temporary ex parte order could form the foundation for lengthy criminal convictions and described the process as “political subjugation.”
“The message from the Abuja bench is clear: your identity is your crime,” the group said.
IPOB also warned Igbo youths and alleged Biafran activists held at Wawa Barracks and other detention centres against entering guilty pleas under pressure. It claimed detainees face starvation, isolation and psychological tactics designed to make long prison terms seem preferable to continued detention, and urged them to demand independent legal representation.
The group demanded to know what specific violent act Okechukwu allegedly committed to justify a 20-year sentence and insisted that the word “terrorism” does not suspend constitutional rights.
“A political label is not proof of individual guilt,” IPOB said. “The Constitution remains supreme. The law must prevail over political intimidation.”
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