IPOB Lawyer Ejiofor Asks Tinubu Authorities To Formally Designate Killer-Herdsmen As Terrorist Group

Ejiofor, who made the demand in a submit he shared Wednesday on his verified X (previously Twitter) deal with, cited latest statements by the Governor of Benue State, Hyacinth Alia.

Barrister Ifeanyi Ejiofor, counsel to the Indigenous Folks of Biafra (IPOB), has requested President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian authorities to formally designate killer-herdsmen terrorising completely different components of the nation as a terrorist group.

Ejiofor, who made the demand in a submit he shared Wednesday on his verified X (previously Twitter) deal with, cited latest statements by the Governor of Benue State, Hyacinth Alia.

The lawyer referenced Governor Alia’s look on Come up Information on Wednesday morning, throughout which the governor explicitly described the actions of violent armed herdsmen in his state as terrorist acts.

“Now that the Governor of Benue State, Dr. Hyacinth Alia, has unequivocally acknowledged and consequently labelled the murderous Fulani herdsmen as terrorists throughout his media look on Come up TV this morning, will the Federal Authorities lastly act?” Ejiofor wrote.

Ejiofor emphasised that Governor Alia, because the Chief Safety Officer of Benue State, has supplied a candid reflection of the on-ground actuality, echoing public sentiment that views the persistent assaults on farming communities as ideologically pushed and tantamount to terrorism.

He questioned the Nigerian authorities’s perceived inaction, stating, “The query stays: will Abuja take this critically and formally designate these killers for what they honestly are?

“Or lets proceed ignoring their escalating bloodshed and the clear ideological undertones that many imagine mirror a jihadist agenda?”

He added, “At what level do we start to name a spade by its identify and confront terror within the language it understands?”

The lawyer’s feedback come amid renewed violence in Benue and another states within the nation, the place assaults by armed herdsmen on communities have led to widespread displacement and fatalities.

Ejiofor’s name attracts consideration to what many understand as a double commonplace within the Nigerian authorities’s dealing with of non-state actors.

In 2017, the previous President Muhammadu Buhari-led Nigerian authorities formally proscribed IPOB as a terrorist organisation, citing its actions and agitations for Biafran secession as threats to nationwide safety.

The choice was met with controversy and condemnation from rights teams and a few worldwide observers, who argued that IPOB had not met globally recognised standards for terrorism designation.

Since then, IPOB’s chief, Nnamdi Kanu, has confronted prosecution on fees together with treasonable felony.

Ejiofor’s newest remarks reignite debate over the Nigerian authorities’s counterterrorism insurance policies and the standards utilized in designating teams as terrorist entities.

With mounting strain from affected communities and regional leaders, it stays to be seen whether or not the Tinubu administration will reply with the same designation towards armed herdsmen accountable for ongoing violence.

TIME FOR FEDERAL ACTION ON DESIGNATION OF KILLER HERDSMEN AS TERRORIST GROUP.

Now that the Governor of Benue State, His Excellency Dr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia, has unequivocally acknowledged and consequently labelled the murderous Fulani herdsmen as TERRORISTS throughout his media… pic.twitter.com/6Sv5qmtlCu

— bar ifeanyi ejiofor (@EjioforBar) April 23, 2025