The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Biafra

  • ‘Biafra should be allowed to rest-in-peace’

    ‘Biafra should be allowed to rest-in-peace’

    General Sam Momah, former Adjutant-General of the Nigeria Army; pioneer Director of the National War College and former Minister of Science and Technology in this interview with Paul Ukpabio spoke on calls for separation and the sounds of war in the country. Excerpts 

    The APC is a year in office; can you assess the party’s performance?

    We should recollect that the plan of the APC was to hit the ground running, but this couldn’t happen because of the legislative coup of 9th June 2015. That coup didn’t enable laws that ought to have been made to fast track dividends of democracy to come on board.  Like you know, the Senate President is on trial and that has slowed down a lot of issues which is very unfortunate. But I believe that the APC government is still trying to put itself together. When the going gets tough, the tough gets going. And therefore they are still making sure that the dividends of democracy get to the masses. As you know, the TSA account is a major breakthrough and has blocked loopholes for corruption. That’s a major masterstroke by the APC government. There is also a reasonable looted amount of money that has been recovered. I am advising that it should be used to build estates in all the state capitals of the federation and Abuja and called Recovered Stolen Money (RSM), Estates so that Nigerians would always remember the funds were not only recovered but were put to good use. Also, it will discourage looting of treasury in future.

    What is your take on pro-Biafra protests?

    I feel sorry, sad and disappointed with them. Honestly, its a misnomer. These are young men and women probably not born before the civil war and hence don’t know what going to war means. It is unfortunate that instead of finding ways to better their lives they are idling away talking about Biafra. As you know, Biafra, from analysis of events, is dead and buried. Two main events concretised it. First, we should remember that Biafra died when Zik crossed over from Biafra via Britain to Nigeria. It was the masterstroke that ended the civil war. Secondly, Biafra got buried when the erstwhile leader of Biafra accepted the pardon of our revered President Shehu Shagari. Not only that, when Ojukwu came back, he contested for the presidency of our beloved country Nigeria. He didn’t win and in the following dispensation, he contested for a seat at the Senate but lost. By so doing, Ojukwu confirmed that Biafra is dead and buried. Definitely, what Nnamdi Kanu and his misguided followers are doing makes no sense. It is downright embarrassing. They claim to be peaceful but mean while they talk of the Restoration of Sovereign State of Biafra, which is at variance to Nigerian’s Constitution which again is worsened with inciting broadcasts abusing and insulting our national leaders and other tribes in unprintable tirades. That’s against Igbo culture. The world is now a global village in which you give and take. Indeed, it is now necessary for Ohanaeze to take control and thus join other socio-cultural groups  Afenifere, Arewa etc, in ensuring that real peace prevails to enable development take root in Nigeria. The appellation, “Biafra” should be allowed to Rest-In-Peace otherwise the ghost of Biafra will continue to hunt us with the painful reminder of three million souls that perished, 2.5m orphans, 1.5m widows and then of course, the heart-ache of “abandoned” property in Port-Harcourt. These are ugly reminders of Biafra that shouldn’t be re-opened in order to enable Ohanaeze and South-East leaders concentrate in pressing home issues such as improved federal presence in the South-East, amelioration of abandoned property to ensure it is never repeated anywhere in Nigeria again, restoration of merit to enable the nation move forward, completion of Zik Mausoleum, construction of Niger Bridge, development of the coal mine and oil field in the South-East, etc.

    There is so much to gain by being together than in splitting because once you start splitting, there will be no end to it until it blows down to your village. This is so because of the multifarious tribes in Nigeria. Nigeria may be down today, but she is destined to be a world power tomorrow. The potentials are there; the underlying problems are intricate but with internationally acclaimed honest leader like PMB, he is our only hope for now to lay a strong foundation for Nigeria’s greatness. The parents of those pro-Biafran youths should call them to order. They are disgracing a lot of us from the South-East. Biafra is not what we should glorify in. Biafra is the past and Nigeria is the future.

    The issue of Fulani herdsmen has become a nightmare; Prof Wole Soyinka said Buhari is acting late, what is your take?

    
I think this issue has been on since Independence, but it is being highlighted now. The good thing is that the President has reacted positively and instructed that the herdsmen be brought to order. That instruction must be strictly carried out. There should be no more killings. Nigeria is tired of bloodbath. Those who commit atrocities such as murder must be brought to book by hanging, and not by granting them amnesty. If that is done, murderers will stop. The problem with Nigeria is that people commit offence as grievous as murder and they get away with it. And that’s why incessant killings have continued. There is also the need to go to the root cause of the problem.

  • ‎Biafra: Kanu, two associates to remain in detention – A/Court

    ‎Biafra: Kanu, two associates to remain in detention – A/Court

    The Court of Appeal, Abuja, on Wednesday  approved the continued detention of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafria (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu and two of his associates – David Nwawusi and Benjamin Madubugwu.

    A three-man bench of the appellate court, led by Justice Abdul Aboki, upheld the January 29 ruling of Justice John Tsoho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, refusing the appellants’ bail.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Kanu and his associates are being tried on charges of treasonable felony, conspiracy and illegal arms possession.

    The applicants had jointly approached the appellate court to challenge the January 29 ruling  which denied them bail.

    Justice Aboki held that the grievous nature of the charges and dual citizenship status of Kanu influenced the court’s decision.

    “We have digested the processes brought before us to decide this matter and having painstakingly assessed the two extreme submissions by parties, the court is inclined to upholding the decision of the trial court.

    “Our decision hinges on the grievous nature of the charges brought against the applicants.

    “It is even more challenging to grant Nnamdi Kanu’s prayer in the circumstance due to his dual citizenship status.

    “As we have seen from the documentary evidence before us, Kanu holds both Nigerian and British citizenship passports narrowing the possibility of his standing justice if granted bail,’’ Aboki said.

    He added, “In the light of the above, the appeal against the January 29 decision of the Federal High Court, Abuja, by the applicants is hereby dismissed.’’

     

     

     

     

  • Herdsmen, fuel price hike, Biafra and worst angst ever

    Herdsmen, fuel price hike, Biafra and worst angst ever

    AFTER few public officials, especially the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase, had suggested that the herdsmen troubling Nigeria were of foreign origin, President Muhammadu Buhari has in far away London finally succinctly addressed the matter. The herdsmen are indeed foreigners, he said, and those responsible for pillaging communities would not go unpunished. No one complains any longer that the president addresses salient national issues during his foreign trips. Perhaps the ambience is responsible. Neither Mr Arase, who has vigorously defended the thesis, nor the president, who has just latched on to the strange idea, has presented incontrovertible proofs showing how foreign attackers could penetrate Nigeria so deeply with foreign cattle unchallenged, knew the terrain so well, and had such lasting disagreements with many local communities that their famed ‘long memory’ prompted them to unimaginable bestiality.

    This sad and inconsistent thesis is compounded by the president’s intriguing response in Katsina to the issue of herdsmen trouble and agitation for Biafra. Speaking at the Emir of Katsina’s palace during his last visit to the state, the president seemed to find a tenuous link between the herdsmen crisis and the Biafra agitation. Said he: “I always say the civil war was fought for the unity of Nigeria because then we hadn’t even discovered oil, let alone enjoy it. But two million people were killed. The way the Sahara is advancing, with Boko Haram, growing number of people, and uncertainty over rainfall, in a land where we fought civil war leading to the death of about two million, for someone to just say he will chase us out? So where do we go?” It is not clear whether the president was misquoted. If he was not, he should like to clarify who the ‘us’ are that Biafra agitators want to chase out. Was it the rest of Nigeria? That would be untenable. Was it herdsmen or people living in the Sahelian belt? It was no doubt a curious and worrisome statement to make.

    So far, the herdsmen problem has assumed terrifying dimension only because government officials have demonstrated incompetence or conflict of interest. They claim the herdsmen are foreigners, and attribute their arms to the crises in Mali and Libya. Yet, leaders of cattle rearers associations in parts of Nigeria have owned up to fomenting reprisal attacks on the grounds that local populations and angry farmers provoked them. This was clearly the case in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State where herdsmen recently sacked many farming communities. What is also clear from the statements of the herdsmen is that the Fulani think like a transnational people operating like musketeers. An attack against one is an attack against all. They may come to one another’s aid; but it does not absolve local herdsmen of blame and responsibility. It is reckless and preposterous for any Nigerian official to make claims that even local herdsmen find ludicrous and specious.

    AS if the trouble from herdsmen is not enough, it is mystifying that the president is inexpertly handling the Biafra problem as well. Regardless of this column’s opinion of Biafra, he has repeatedly counselled that Biafra is an idea that cannot be crushed because of its location in the minds of its adherents. To tackle it would require much more than diatribe, threats and federal might. If Biafra military campaign were to be triggered today, its militants are unlikely to engage in open and direct confrontation. Its proponents would embark on the Iraqi, Afghanistan and guerilla-type of campaigns. It would be a cruel and unwinnable war. Is that the road Nigerian leaders want to impulsively travel? The problem is that there was no closure to the civil war. No amount of blackmail to the Igbo young who were not born before the war will eradicate the idea of Biafra until the country restructures and finds a closure to the recurring nightmare.

    And just as the whole country had transformed into a seething cauldron of troubles, the government caps the crises with a hike in fuel price from N86.50/l to N145/l. They’ll probably get away with it, and the unions, which are angling for negotiations, will have an ineffectual response. The economic imperatives on the ground do not favour the sustenance of former price regimes and paradigms. But what if the naira further plunges in value and crude oil prices begin to rise strongly? Can anyone guarantee there would be no further rise in prices of fuel and other goods? No one trusts the government to embark on a scientific and systematic response to the expected pauperisation of the people, whether the response comes in terms of palliatives or in terms of organised economic measures to shore up wages and employment. There is no history of that kind of salutary response in these parts. And it is not clear whether this government, which is groaning under old and retrogressive political and economic paradigms, can unleash the creative potential within all Nigerians.

    Nigeria is facing its worst moment of angst since the civil war. The problems are multifarious and spreading, but the language of the federal government is disturbingly full of threats and violence, making it hard for them to summon the honesty, ingenuity and realism needed to successfully tackle a problem poised to get worse in the coming months and years.

  • Buhari lampoon Biafran agitators

    Buhari lampoon Biafran agitators

    President Muhammadu Buhari, Monday, lampooned those agitating for the secession of Biafra , insisting that his administration would ensure continuous existence of Nigeria as a united entity.

    Speaking at the palace of the Emir of Katsina during his official visit to the state, Buhari recalled that over two million Nigerians were killed during the 30 month of the Nigerian civil war which was fought to ensure unity of the nation.

    He said the nation was plunged in a civil war leading to colossal lost of lives and properties in the bid to ensure its unity “but recently, some people who were not even born then are saying they want to divide Nigeria”

    “I always say the civil war was fought for the unity of Nigeria because then we don’t even discover oil let alone enjoying it. But two million people were killed”

    He assured that his administration will do all it could to ensure the continuous existence of Nigeria as a peaceful and one united entity.

    The President who admitted that he knows the difficulties Nigerians are passing through said government was doing everything possible to change the fortunes of the nation for the better.

    He urged Nigerians who have land to embrace farming “while those who don’t have should learn a trade.”

    Earlier in his address, the Emir of Katsina, Abdulmumini Kabir accused the immediate past administration of Goodluck Jonathan for abandoning the contract for dredging of River Niger noting “in land water way is the wealth of the nation and these people don’t want it here”.

    Emir Kabir who urged residents especially the hausa-fulani to intensify prayers for PMB said there are enemies within and outside.

    “We know there are saboteurs but we will finish them with prayers” the Emir said and requested for the renovation of dams in the state so as to boost irrigation farming and water supply.

     

  • Biafra: Court declines Kanu’s request for stay of proceedings

    Biafra: Court declines Kanu’s request for stay of proceedings

    PRO-Biafra activist Nnamdi Kanu and associates David Nwawusi and Benjamin Madubugwu yesterday failed in their bid for a stay of proceedings.

    A Federal High Court in Abuja struck out their motion pending the determination of their appeal.

    Kanu and his associates are being tried on six-count of treasonable felony, illegal possession of firearms, managing an unlawful society, among others.

    They had, through a motion by their lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, sought a stay pending the determination of their appeal against the court’s March 7, 2016, ruling shielding prosecution witnesses from public glare.

    Kanu and his associates contended that Justice Tsoho’s March 7 decision, which varied his position not to allow masked witnesses, was given without jurisdiction.

    The judge, on February 19, refused the prosecution’s motion for witness protection.

    Justice Tsoho, yesterday, held that the motion lacked merit and ordered that their trial would proceed as directed by the court in its March 7 ruling.

    The judge, who accused the defence of blackmailing the court, assured parties that the court would not succumb to their intrigues.

    Justice Tsoho frowned at what he described as “intemperate language” by Ejiofor his application.

    Identifying words, such as “prudence” and “common sense,” in the application, as uncomplimentary, Justice Tsoho said “virulent attacks on courts do not constitute a yardstick for the success of counsel.

    “The logical inference to be drawn from this is that if the order of stay is not granted, then this court lacks prudence or common sense.

    “Be that as it may, this court will not yield to blackmail,” the judge said.

    In dismissing the defence’s motion, Justice Tsoho relied on Section 306 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, which frowns at stay of proceedings in criminal cases.

    The judge said contrary to the argument by defence lawyer Chuks Muoma (SAN), Section 306 of the Act did not deny a defendant the right to fair hearing.

    Justice Tsoho noted that though Section 306 “encroached” on a judge’s discretion to grant stay in criminal trials, it never denied a party the right of appeal guaranteed  in Section 241 of the Constitution.

    The judge noted that the provision enhanced the right to speedy trial, which an accused was entitled to under the Constitution.

    He added: “Section 306 of the ACJA removes hitches to a speedy trial, which is a component of fair hearing.”

    Justice Tsoho made a distinction between the Kanu case and that of the Senate President  Bukola Saraki, which defence cited in its request.

    The Supreme Court had granted Saraki a stay at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

    Justice Tsoho  said the factors that informed the Supreme Court’s decision were not available in the instant case.

    He noted that in the Saraki case, the need to allow the apex court determine the question of whether or not the CCT possessed criminal jurisdiction informed the order for a stay.

    But the judge said such an issue was not available in the Kanu case.

    “It is more so, given that the application for stay of proceedings is not founded on lack of intrinsic jurisdiction of this court, but on mode or procedure to be adopted in the trial.  At this juncture, I hold with due respect and without any prejudice, that the circumstances of this application are not deserving of an order for stay of proceedings.

    “Consequently, the application for an order of stay is refused and struck out. The effect is that the trial shall proceed in the manner ordered by this court, except there is contrary directive or order from the appropriate authority,” Justice Tsoho said.

    He adjourned to June 20 for trial.

  • Maka chooses Nigeria over Biafra

    Maka chooses Nigeria over Biafra

    In the midst of raging controversy about the creation of Biafra, an independent state out of Nigeria, newly discovered Nigerian soul singer, Maka, an Igbo from Imo State, has dissociated herself from the secession call in certain quarters.

    According to Maka whose real name is Nwamaka Sam-Ejehu, a lawyer and musician, she was born a Nigerian and prefers the status-quo.

    “I wasn’t born a Biafran,” said Maka who was born and bred in Lagos.

    The singer was speaking to The Nation ahead of the launch of her EP titled The Truth which holds on Saturday, April 16 at the Freedom Park, Lagos Island.

    “I was born as a Nigerian and I want to stay Nigerian. That’s all I can say about it. I want to stay a Nigerian.”

    Though Maka proudly sings in Igbo on some songs in The Truth which has seven tracks, she goes ahead to dedicate a track, Lagos, to the state of her birth and where she has lived all her life.

    There have been strident calls for the actualisation of Biafra in some quarters; nearly 50 years after the first call for Biafra resulted in a 30-month civil war in Nigeria.

  • IPOB vows to resume protest over Kanu’s detention

    IPOB vows to resume protest over Kanu’s detention

    Members of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) are to continue the protest in the South East and South South zones over the detention of its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

    IPOB head of media and publicity, Emma Powerful dropped the hint in a statement weekend, saying that IPOB has endured enough waiting for the federal government to release Kanu, who has been in detention since October 14, 2015, following his arrest and ongoing trial.

    Powerful said, “We have endured enough, we will start the protest that will bring the Nigeria government to its knees over its insensitivity over the plight and continued detention of our leader”.

    He said, “The protest was earlier called off not out of cowardice and fear but to show maturity and professionalism in what we are doing and to allow federal government to release our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally”.

    The IPOB head of media and publicity explained that in observing a break in its protests it gave the federal government an opportunity to take a decision and release the man who did not commit any crime.

    On the constant violent crackdown by security agencies during IPOB protests, Powerful said, “We know they will kill us as they used to do before now but at the end we will be free”.

    Powerful noted that the organization was pleased with the pro-Biafra protests going on around, adding that the protest in the world is still in progress.
    He therefore stated that “we in Biafraland will not stop until our leader is released unconditionally”.

    The IPOB spokesman said that it was regrettable that those that advise President Muhammadu Buhari don’t want the freedom of the IPOB leader have continued to make it difficult for Mr. President to do the right thing and release Kanu, adding that the same sycophants in his administration are also waiting to laugh over his downfall.

    Meanwhile IPOB has vehemently condemned the arrest and detention of 76 villagers of Ugwuneshi community in Awgu local government of Enugu state following a clash with Fulani herdsmen accused of destroying crops and farmland with their cattle.

    The farmers are being held in prison custody at federal prisons Afara Umuahia after they were denied bail when they were arraigned in magistrate courts last week.

    But IPOB condemned in strong terms the Nigeria Army and Nigeria Police Zone 9 for saying they were not aware of the farmers by “men in military uniform” who took them to Umuahia and then dumped them in prison.

    IPOB head of media and publicity said that it was appalling that the Army would deny knowledge of the ”the fake soldiers, fake police and their collaboration with Fulani herdsmen in ravaging, killing, maiming and raping of women and girls of Awgu community in Enugu state”.

    He raised this poser, “If they are fake soldiers as claimed, who handed them (farmers) over to fake police, who prepared the fake charges against them and transferred them to fake Zone 9 in Umuahia and who took them to fake magistrate court, who remanded them in fake prison in Umuahia?

  • Biafra: Kanu, associates accuse second judge of bias

    Biafra: Kanu, associates accuse second judge of bias

    Pro-Biafra agitator, Nnamdi Kanu and two of his associates have accused a judge of the Federal High Court, Abuja, Justice James Tsoho, of bias.

    The three, who were arraigned before the judge on January 20 this year on charges of treasonable felony, have also applied for the transfer of the case to a new judge.

    These are contained in the notice of appeal and motion of stay of proceedings pending appeal filed by the three defendants Wednesday.

    This is the second time the three will be expressing doubt about the ability of their trial judge to endure justice and fairness in their trial.

    On December 23 last year, Kanu told Justice Ahmed Mohammed (also of the Federal High Court), before who they were to be arraigned, that he was not confident that the judge would ensure justice and would not be bias.

    Kanu, who said he got information that the judge cannot ensure justice in his trial, demanded that the case be transferred to another judge.

    Based on Kanu’s statement, Justice Mohammed withdrew from the case and returned the case file to the court’s Chief Judge, Justice Ibrahim Auta, who later reassigned the case to Tsoho.

    Kanu and two others were arraigned before Justice Tsoho on six counts of treasonable felony, unlawful possession of firearms and other offences bordering on their agitation for secession ‎of the Republic of Biafra from Nigeria.

    On March 7, Justice Tsoho ruled on an oral application by the prosecution to allow the shielding of its witnesses from public glare in view of threat to their lives.

    The judge had, in an earlier ruling rejected the prosecution’s request to have its witnesses wear mask. But the judge varied that order on Monday and aggreed to the shielding of the prosecution’s witness, a decision the defendants represented by Chuks Muoma (SAN), expressed discomfort.

    Muoma, who reluctantly agreed to the court’s decision, insisted on a prior demonstration of the witness’ shielding procedure before it could be applied.

    Wednesday, the procedure was demonstrated behind the public, but the prosecution witness was not available, following which Muoma informed the court about the notice of appeal and motion for stay of proceedings he filed for the defendants.

    Prosecution lawyer, Muhammad Diri acknowledged being served with the two processes filed by the defendants and sought time to respond.

    In their notice of appeal, Kanu and others want the Court of Appeal to set aside Justice Tsoho’s  “ruling/order of th learned trial judge, dated March 7, 2015.

    “An order of this honourable court directing the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to transfer the trial hearing of the substantive charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/383/15, currently pending before Justice J. Tsoho to another judge of the Federal High Court for trial.”

    Among their grounds of appeal include  that the judge erred in law “when having refused the application for the witnesses of the prosecution to testified behind screens, or masked” on February 19, 2016, “suddenly varied the said order in the ruling delivered on March 7, 2016, on a mere oral application by the respondent”.

    The defendants argued that the judge granted the prosecution’s oral application without jurisdiction, and thereby “occasioning a miscarriage of justice”.

    They stated that the particulars of the judge’s error include giving an order in violation of their right to fair hearing and therefore betrayed his alleged bias in the handling of the case.

    “There is manifest bias on the part of the learned trial judge in the conduct of this case, which is apparent in the unwholesome manner his order was reviewed to give undue advantage to the prosecution, in flagrant violation of the appellants’ right to fair trial, as constitutionally guaranteed under the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended),” the defendants said.

    They raised similar issues in an affidavit filed in support of their application for stay of proceedings, which was deposed to by a lawyer in their defence team, Emmanuel Ayoola

    They stated in the affidavit that there was no formal written application by the learned Director of Public Prosecutions requesting variation of the order of court made on February 19, 2016.

    “That by granting the learned Director of Public Prosecution’s application, this honourable court sat on appeal over its own ruling/order, dated February 19, 2016.

    “That this honourable court has no jurisdiction to re-litigate on issue it had already decided.

    “That the court had manifested serious bias in the conduct of this trial, which is gravely impeding the defendants’ constitutional rights to fair hearing/trial.”

    Justice Tsoho has adjourned to April 4 for the hearing of the motion for stay of proceeding pending appeal.

  • Nnamdi Kanu: No plans to invade court – MASSOB

    Nnamdi Kanu: No plans to invade court – MASSOB

    The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) faction led by Uchenna Madu has denied the allegation by the Department of State Service (DSS) that some Biafra agitators plan to invade the Court and forcefully free their leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
    Madu said that both Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and MASSOB have no plans to invade any court in the country during the façade trail of Kanu with the intention to free their leader.

    MASSOB in a statement issued by the factional leader, Comrade Madu described the allegation as ‘rattling of a confused and drowning people’, as the two groups are non violent in any form.

    The statement reads, “How can a non-violence and armless organization like IPOB and MASSOB invade a courtroom located on the 3rd floor of the Federal High Court surrounded by heavily armed combine team of
    Nigeria security agents and modern technological security gadgets.

    “MASSOB and IPOB have no such intention, plan or agenda as we know that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and others committed no offence against Nigeria.

    “We depend and focus on the divine justice of God (as) Nnamdi Kanu’s arrest and detention has revived the conscientiousness of Biafra to a higher dimension which can never be quenched.

    “The insistence of the Federal Government to hide the identity of their witnesses against Nnamdi Kanu and others is a sign of cowardice and unsteadiness.

    “They have no genuine witnesses now because the contracted ones have been exposed. It remains only the staff of DSS who will appear with Igbo names to create negative impression that Ndigbo are against
    Nnamdi Kanu.

    “FG has shot itself on the leg. For a soft landing, MASSOB advises President Buhari to immediately reach the principal Igbo leaders the Federal Government delegation led by the Director of Military Intelligence (DMI) met, with some representatives of IPOB and MASSOB on 22nd of December 2015 at Enugu, and release Nnamdi Kanu to them.

    “The continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu will bring more devastating diplomatic doom for Nigeria. Biafrans are ready for the trial.”

  • Kanu’s trial: Court grants witnesses partial secrecy

    Kanu’s trial: Court grants witnesses partial secrecy

    •Judge to shield witnesses from public glare

    A Federal High Court in Abuja, yesterday, rejected a prayer by pro-Biafra agitator, Nnamdi Kanu, and two others, for an order dismissing the charges against them.

    Justice James Tsoho, who rejected the prayer yesterday, also said he would shield prosecution witnesses from public glare, following complaints by the prosecution that its witnesses were being threatened.

    Kanu, David Nwawusi and Benjamin Madubugwu are being tried on a six-count of treasonable felony, unlawful possession of firearms and other offences because of their agitation for a sovereign state of Biafra.

    Defence lawyer Chuks Muoka (SAN) argued that the prosecution had shown high level of impunity since his clients were first taken to court last October, and had not been serious with  the prosecution of the case.

    Muoka urged the court to dismiss the complaint by the prosecution about its inability to proceed without its witnesses being shielded.

    He urged the court to be guided by Section 351(1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 in dismissing the charge against the defendants.

    “It is not that the court is not prepared to hear this case, not that the defendants are not ready for trial, but that the prosecution is not ready.

    “I apply that the charge against the defendants be dismissed and they be discharged and acquitted. And the prosecution not giving an opportunity to disregard the court; the court should make an order  restraining the prosecution from further arraigning or arresting the defendants based on this or similar charges.”

    Before his submission, Muoka invited one of his junior colleagues, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, who told the court that some men of the Department of State Service (DSS), with whom he had altercation, had threatened to kill him. He urged the court to take note of the alleged threat to his life.

    Prosecution  lawyer Muhammad Diri told the court that the prosecution was ready for trial, but that its witnesses were scared. He said some of the witnesses complained of receiving threat calls and urged the court to vary its order of February 19 to shield witnesses from public glare.

    Diri, who is the director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), faulted Muoka’s reliance on Section 351 of the ACJA, saying it was not applicable to the case.

    “The section talks about the non-appearance of the prosecution. We have not said we are unprepared to prosecute this case or that our witnesses are not available. They are available and willing to attend court.

    “Our application is for the court to slightly vary its order to some level of protection for our witnesses, who are being threatened,” he said.

    Diri also told the court that he got information from some operatives of the DSS that there was a plot to abduct the defendants in court.

    Justice Tsoho upheld Diri’s argument that Muoka’s reliance on Section 351 of the ACJA in asking for his clients to be discharged was misconceived.

    He said the prosecution’s request to shield its witnesses from public glare, but opened to the judge and lawyers, is not reopening an issue decided.

    Justice Tsoho said the application to allow prosecution witnesses testify behind a screen to protect them from the public is a fallout of the order granted by the court and it is informed by new development.

    “The court is disposed to granting the application by the prosecution to allow the prosecution witnesses testify behind a screen to shield them from public glare,” he said.

    The judge assured Muoka that the arrangement for witness protection would be first demonstrated for parties to see before it is adopted for proceedings the next date.

    Mouka expressed concern about the conduct of proper proceedings where witnesses were not seen. He said such arrangement was alien to him in his over 40 years of practice.

    Justice Tsoho adjourned to March 9 for trial.