By ENITAN ABEL JOHNGOLD ORHERUATA, mnipr
In a decisive legal intervention, the High Court of Mbaise Judicial Division sitting in Ahiazu Mbaise, Imo State, has issued a restraining order halting the planned parallel National Convention of the Neo Black Movement (NBM) of Africa, scheduled to take place in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State on July 26, 2025.
The order, granted by Honourable Justice Mike Onyekachi on Friday, followed an ex-parte motion brought by the Registered Trustees of NBM of Africa alongside two senior members, Chief Olorogun Ese Kakor and Ikechi Opara, the Mbaise Zonal Coordinator of the organization.
The court barred seven defendants—Bemigho Eyeoyibo, Akeem Zibiri, Barr. Isimeme Jesse Iriogbe, Hope Aliyu, Dr. Anthony Orunkoya (also known as Tony Masaka), the State Security Services (SSS), and the Nigeria Police Force—from organizing or participating in the disputed convention, pending the determination of a substantive motion for interlocutory injunction.
Justice Onyekachi ruled that the defendants, their agents, loyalists, or anyone acting on their authority, are restrained from conducting, convening, or participating in any manner in the said parallel convention or any other such gathering anywhere in Nigeria.
In a further directive, the court ordered the SSS and Nigeria Police Force to enforce the ruling and ensure compliance. Additionally, the plaintiffs were granted permission to serve the court’s orders and other legal processes by substituted means—specifically through publication in a national newspaper.
The case has been adjourned to July 30, 2025, for hearing of the motion on notice.
This ruling is seen as a major development in the ongoing leadership dispute within the Neo Black Movement of Africa, an organization in a mission rooted in Pan-African advocacy and social justice.