Nigerians have taken to social media to react to the news that the UK government has labelled the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) as a terrorist organization.

The Boris Johnson-led government made this known in an updated policy statement on asylum released through the UK Visa and Immigration (UKVI) on its website.

The policy updated in May 2022 says it agrees with the government of Nigeria which labelled IPOB and its militant arm, the Eastern Security Network (ESN) as terrorist organizations.

The UK government also blamed IPOB and ESN led by the arrested Nnamdi Kanu for the increasing violence and human rights violations in the southeast region of the country, ordering its visa officials to exclude members of the group from its asylum programme.

Despite the general exclusion, the statement however pointed out that each case of an asylum application by persons who might be linked with the groups will still be considered on an individual basis.

Reacting to the development, some Nigerians supported the action of the UK government and further asked that all supporters of IPOB should not be granted visas into the country.

While others condemned the UK government for proscribing IPOB, saying the group is not responsible for the killings and violence in the South East.

Some of the reactions below:

Breaking News: The United Kingdom considers IPOB a terrorist organization. Anyone who had supported Eastern Security Network (ESN) in the past on Twitter might be denied Visa by the UK Visa and Immigration. Nnamdi Kanu is now an internationally recognized terrorist.

— ᴏnowvo_ᴏᴍᴀsᴏʀᴏ ᴀʟɪ ᴏᴠɪᴇ ™☤🇳🇬 (@OvieNews) May 5, 2022