Jonathan Nwokpor
The intense security that accompanied Biafra nation agitator Nnamdi Kanu’s visit to the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday prevented the trial of five loyalists of Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara on terrorism-related charges from proceeding.
After Department of State Service (DSS) operatives set up checkpoints during Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Kanu’s trial for identical offenses, the trial was put on hold because the lawyers for the group were unable to see the court.
The Inspector General of Police, or IGP, has charged five persons: Osiga Donald, Ochueja Thankgod, Kenneth Goodluck Kpasa, Prince Lukman Oladele, and Chime Eguma Ezebalike. All five men are accused of terrorism-related offenses.
They attempted to contest both the court’s territorial jurisdiction and the validity of the terrorism charges brought against them.
Their respective lawyers were unable to enter the courtroom despite the prison officials’ successful attempts to move the inmates inside.
In anticipation of potential security breaches during the presence of the Biafra Nation agitator in the court environs, fully armed and intimidating-looking DSS operatives had taken over all the roads leading to the court on Tuesday morning.
As a result of litigants and certain legal practitioners being sent back by the security operatives, several proceedings in other courts were hastily adjourned.
The defendants’ trial was initially scheduled for 12 noon, but Judge Mobolaji Olajuwon moved it to 2 o’clock in order to provide the attorneys access to the court.
However, Justice Olajuwon ordered that the trial be postponed at the request of the few lawyers who were able to make it to the courtroom by 2 pm. In contrast, the trial of Kanu before another Judge, Justice Binta Nyako, was still ongoing, and security was tight.
The trial was moved to April 16, a day before Nnamdi Kanu’s commencement of his trial on comparable terrorism charges, with the agreement of the few lawyers present.
Judge Olajuwon ordered the five defendants to be sent back to Kuje jail in Abuja to complete their remand.
One of the individuals who appeared in court was Simon Lough, SAN, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who was representing the IGP.
On January 25, the IGP attacked the terrorism charges against them for allegedly breaking into, damaging, and burning down the Rivers State House of Assembly the previous year.
Following the political unrest that shook Port Harcourt in October of last year, they were accused of committing the alleged terrorism offenses.
Police alleged in the charges against them, which were filed under the file number FHC/ABJ/CR/25/2024 that in addition to setting fire to the State House of Assembly, some of them also murdered five police informants at the Ahoada settlement in the state and Bako Agbashim, the SP.
The following individuals are said to have been murdered by the defendants: Saturday Edi, Charles Osu, Ogbonna Eja, Idaowuka Felix, and Paul Victor Chibuogu.
Additionally, they are accused of wreaking havoc on the state’s citizens and their business endeavors by means of a number of cult organizations, including the Supreme Viking Confraternity, Degbam, Iceland, and Greenland.
They are specifically accused of conspiring to commit acts of terrorism on October 29, 2023, at Moscow Road in Port Harcourt by deliberately attacking, destroying, and setting fire to the Rivers State House of Assembly. This offense is punishable under section 26 of the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act 2022.
Due to their inability to convince the court to grant them bail and the seriousness of the charges against them, the defendants have denied the charges but have been ordered to be remanded in Kuje Prison in Abuja.
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