The Muhammadu Buhari administration put out a tweet to celebrate the reported proscription of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) by the British government on Friday.

Via @NGRPresident, the official Twitter handle of the Nigerian presidency, Buhari thanked the United Kingdom (UK) for proscribing the group and denying its members asylum.

This came after some media outlets (not FIJ) published reports that the UK had proscribed the group.

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“Nigeria welcomed the decision by the United Kingdom to proscribe the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as a terrorist group,” the now-deleted tweet by the presidency read.

“The violent secessionist organisation has long been proscribed as such in Nigeria where it carries out the majority of its murderous activities.”

Buhari faulted the UK for taking the decision late, but said the reason for the delay was because IPOB had an international network of funders “that allow for lawyers and influence peddlers to aggressively lobby for and whitewash the activities of their client in Western courts.”

He also said IPOB’s TV and radio stations were spreading misinformation which were inciting violence home and abroad.

The presidency called for more sanctions and also invited the United States of America to follow suit.

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The statement was signed by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity.

The UK has since described the reports as false.

In a statement issued on Friday evening, The British High Commission described the report as ‘inaccurate reporting’.

“The inaccurate reporting relates to the 13 April, 2022 publication by the UK Government of a revised Country Policy and Information note (CPIN) on separatist groups in SE [South-East] Nigeria, including the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB),” the statement form the commission reads in part.

It said all asylum seekers will be attended to individually, and in accordance with its obligations under the UN Refugee Convention and European Convention on Human Rights.

The commission acknowledged the Nigerian government’s proscription of IPOB as a terrorist organisation but said it was not listed as a terrorist group banned in the UK.