The African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, an institution of the African Union, has received a petition on behalf of Biafra’s declaration of self-rule. The Biafra Republic Government In-Exile (BRGIE), led by Simon Ekpa, claims that Abiola Idowu-Ojo, Nigeria’s representative, unfairly blocked the petition.
Ekpa, the self-declared BRGIE prime minister, made the assertion in a statement that was uploaded on his X account on Monday.
He said that in the midst of violations of Biafrans’ rights, the Commission had rejected his appeal for Biafra Liberation, even though it had received a response on June 19.
Ekpa emphasized that the Commission had broken its own regulations and that the justification offered for not considering the BRGIE petition was unjust.
He asserted that when injustice and impunity proliferate, the trend might heighten tensions in the area.
“The Biafra Government wants to officially inform the Biafra people and the world that the Nigeria representative, Abiola Idowu-Ojo at the African Court, has trashed the filing of the Biafra Government.
“This development will escalate the tension in the region; it is corruption and impunity taken to the highest level at the AU by the Nigeria state appointee.
“We Successfully filed the communication on the 23rd of May 2024 and on the 19th of June, we received a response that the communication would not be seized, the reason being the failure to comply with rule 115(2)(d) of the 2020 rules of procedure.
“When you check the rules of procedure, failure to comply with rule 115(2)(d) subsequently requires rule 115(4) to be fulfilled and not the response we got,” he wrote.
Ekpa wanted additional justification for the Commission’s lack of response to the petition.
“Further investigation reveals that the Secretary to the Commission is a Nigerian Abiola Idowu-Ojo and has violated the rules of procedure which she amended according to the Center for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria.
“We have further demanded an explanation as to how the procedure was not followed and the commission never responded.
“We are also taking the matter up but we decided that the public must become aware,” he stated.
The announcement of December 2, 2024, for the Biafra liberation proclamation was made by the Ekpa-led BRGIE.
The plan to extradite Ekpa from Finland had been reiterated by the Nigerian government multiple times.
