US says pro-Biafra group isn't yet a terrorist organisation

The United States says the

On September 20, 2017, a High Court in Abuja granted the Federal Government of Nigeria its request to have IPOB proscribed.

This followed renewed violent agitations for the realisation of an independent Biafra nation by IPOB and its leader Nnamdi Kanu.

The agitations led to skirmishes and bloody clashes between the Nigeria Army and pro-Biafra agitators in Abia, Southeast Nigeria.

As tension heightened around the country's South-East and South-South regions on the back of the army's 'Operation Python Dance II' and clashes between law enforcement and IPOB members, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) and South-East Governors immediately declared the activities of IPOB illegal and banned.

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Their proclamations were backed with the force of law a couple of days later when Attorney General, Abubakar Malami, obtained an ex parte court injunction formally proscribing IPOB a terrorist outfit.

However, the United States says it doesn't yet see the separatist group in that light.

A spokesperson for the American Embassy in Nigeria, Russell Brooks, told local newspaper, The Punch, that IPOB isn't yet proscribed within its borders.

“The United States Government is strongly committed to Nigeria’s unity. Important political and economic issues affecting the Nigerian people, such as the allocation of resources, are worthwhile topics for respectful debate in a democracy.

“Within the context of unity, we encourage all Nigerians to support a de-escalation of tensions and peaceful resolution of grievances. The Indigenous People of Biafra is not a terrorist organisation under US law,” Brooks said.

According to Punch, the US embassy also declined to comment on whether the Federal Government of Nigeria had requested that the US treat IPOB as a terrorist organisation and help block IPOB financing from the United States.

Brooks also maintained sealed lips when quizzed concerning what the US position was on IPOB and its activities.

There have been near diplomatic rows between the governments of Nigeria and France on one hand and the governments of the UK and Nigeria on the other, over the activities of IPOB and alleged tacit backing of Kanu's operations by foreign governments.