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 emphasised that the Commission had broken its own regulations and that the justification offered for not considering the BRGIE case was unjust.

He asserted that when injustice and impunity proliferate, the trend might heighten tensions in the area.

The Biafra Government wishes to formally notify the Biafra people and the rest of the world that the Biafra Government’s submission before the African Court has been disparaged by Nigeria’s representative, Abiola Idowu-Ojo.

“This development will intensify tensions in the region; the Nigerian state appointee has brought corruption and impunity to the pinnacle of the AU.”

On May 23, 2024, we successfully filed the communication. On June 19, we received a response stating that the communication would not be seized since it did not follow rule 115(2)(d) of the 2020 rules of procedure.

He wrote, “When you check the procedural rules, the response we received is not required by rule 115(4), but rather, rule 115(2)(d) must be followed.”

Ekpa wanted additional justification for the Commission’s lack of response to the petition.

According to the University of Pretoria’s Centre for Human Rights, “Further investigation reveals that the Secretary to the Commission is a Nigerian named Abiola Idowu-Ojo who has violated the rules of procedure which she amended.”

We have also asked the commission to explain why the protocol was not followed, but they have never replied.

He said, “We decided that the public needs to be made aware, but we are also taking the matter up.”

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.