Alex Enumah in Abuja
The federal government Tuesday re-arraigned four members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) on a three-count amended charge before Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Their re-arraignment was sequel to the severance of their trial from that of self acclaimed leader of the group, Nnamdi Kanu, whose whereabouts has been unknown since last September, when the military attacked his home town in Operation Python Dance exercise.
Justice Nyako of the Federal High Court Abuja had in February gave the federal government the nod to sever charges against Kanu from that of his co-defendants.
Kanu and his co-accused were initially arraigned on an 11-count charge, which was later reduced to five.
The accused include Bright Chimezie, who was being arraigned for the first time before the court. Others are Chidiebere Onwidiwe, Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi. They however pleaded not guilty to the charges.
However, counsel to the 1st defendant, Chukwudi Igwe, asked the court for time to meet with his client whom he was seeing for the first time since his arrest last year by operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS).
Before commencement of proceedings, prosecution counsel, Shaibu Labaran, drew the court’s attention to a post in the social media which displayed a picture of one of the security operatives of Igbo extraction that portrayed him as a betrayal of the Biafra course.
Labaran, who read from the post, alleged that the operative has been marked to be killed, quoting from the post.
“There was a security breach in the last proceedings. One of the operatives was snapped, his picture posted in the social media that he was a security risk and should be killed,†he alleged.
However, Chukwudi Igwe, counsel to the first defendant (Bright Chimieze), said the information was to “distract the attention of the court which has always been the ploy of the prosecution.â€
He said it has no direct bearing on the matter in court, and urged the court to disregard it.
Counsel to the other defendants aligned himself with his position, and urged the court to discountenance the information.
Meanwhile, the four of them in the new charge were accused of conspiracy to commit treasonable felony in the first count while only Chimezie and Onqudiwe were accused of improper importation of goods and Illegal possession of firearms in the second and third counts respectively.
Before the charges were read to the defendants, their counsel urged the court to reject it on the grounds that it was filed about four days ago and served on the 1st defendant in court this morning (yesterday).
After the defendants took their plea, Justice Nyako then adjourned till tomorrow for commencement of trial.
