Ebonyi Court Frees Final Batch of Biafran Agitators After Four Years in Detention

A High Court sitting in Abakaliki, the capital of Ebonyi State, has ordered the release of the final batch of 24 pro-Biafra agitators who had been held in detention for four years.

The court under trial Justice I.P. Chima, ruled on Thursday, July 17, 2025, that the detainees be discharged and acquitted of all charges, bringing to an end a prolonged legal battle involving members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) who were arrested on May 24, 2020.

The group was initially charged with conspiracy and treasonable felony by the Ebonyi State Government and had been facing prosecution despite a series of acquittals by various courts. The lead counsel to the detainees, Barrister Ifeanyi Ejiofor, had filed a preliminary objection to the charges, arguing that the continuous trial of the individuals amounted to a violation of their constitutional rights, particularly Section 36(9) of the 1999 Constitution, which prohibits double jeopardy.

Justice Chima upheld the argument, describing the prolonged detention as unjust and unconstitutional. He emphasized that the accused had already been acquitted of similar charges multiple times and could not be subjected to repeated prosecution for the same allegations.

The judge therefore dismissed the charges in their entirety and ordered the immediate release of the 24 detainees from correctional custody.

This ruling follows an earlier court judgment on April 10, 2025, which led to the release of 12 members of the same group after the Ebonyi State Director of Public Prosecution withdrew the charges. Despite that, the remaining 24 individuals were kept in detention, drawing criticism from human rights advocates and IPOB’s legal team, who argued that the government had persistently ignored valid court orders.

Barrister Ejiofor expressed gratitude to the court for what he described as a bold, fearless, and intellectually sound decision. He condemned the prolonged detention of his clients, calling it a clear abuse of state power. According to him, the four-year incarceration had inflicted deep emotional, financial, and psychological harm on the detainees and their families, some of whom lost their homes or loved ones during the period.

Ejiofor called on the Ebonyi State Government to initiate measures for the rehabilitation and compensation of the released individuals. He also confirmed that the correctional service had already complied with the release order, and that the freed agitators had been received by their families and legal representatives.

The case, which drew national and international attention over the years, has now been widely seen as a test of Nigeria’s judicial independence and the strength of its constitutional protections. With the court’s latest decision, the chapter appears to have finally closed on a matter that had lingered in the nation’s legal system for nearly half a decade.