A Federal High Court in Abuja has declared the activities of some banditry-related groups to be acts of terrorism.
The order was issued by Justice Taiwo Taiwo while ruling on an ex-parte motion filed by the Federal Government.
According to Mohammed Abubakar, Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) at the Federal Ministry of Justice, who filed the ex-parte motion, President Muhammadu Buhari gave approval for the action, the goal of which is the proscription of “Yan Bindiga” and “Yan Ta’adda” groups, as well as other terrorist groups in the country.
The Federal Government stated in its supporting affidavits that security reports confirmed that the bandit groups were responsible for the killings, abductions, rapes, kidnappings, and other criminal acts in the north-east, north-central, and other parts of the country.
According to the Federal Government, the group is responsible for an increase in “banditry, incessant kidnappings for ransom, kidnapping for marriage, mass abductions of schoolchildren, and other crimes.”
According to the government, the group is also responsible for imprisonment, severe deprivation of physical liberty, torture, rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, forced pregnancy, other forms of sexual violence, attacks and killings in communities and commuters, and wanton destruction of lives and property in Nigeria, particularly in the north-west and north-central states.
“The activities of the Yan Bindiga and Yan Ta’adda groups, as well as other similar groups, constitute acts of terrorism that can lead to a breakdown in public order and safety, as well as a threat to national security and Nigeria’s corporate existence,” it added.
In its decision, the court specifically declared the activities of the “Yan Bindiga group,” the “Yan Ta’adda group,” and other similar groups in any part of the country, particularly the north-west and north-central, to be “acts of terrorism and illegality.”
The activities of the group, as well as other similar groups in any part of Nigeria, were prohibited by the court, “either in groups or as individuals by whatever names they are called.”
The judge also issued an injunction prohibiting “any person or group of persons from engaging in any manner whatsoever, in any form of activities involving or concerning the prosecution of the collective intention or otherwise of the Yan Bindiga group and the Yan Ta’adda group under any other name or platform however called or described.”
The Federal Government was then directed by Justice Taiwo to publish the proscription order in the official gazette and two national dailies.