By Jane Okafor, Abuja
Fresh twist crept into the trial of the leader of the proscribed indigenous people of Biafra(IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, on Friday with the presiding judge, Justice James Kolawole Omotosho, directing that the trial be moved to the headquarters of the Department of State Services(DSS).
Justice Omotosho ordered the relocation of Kanu’s trial from the Abuja Federal High Court to the DSS headquarters to allow for the inspection of Kanu’s shipping container.
The container was said to have been used by the separatist agitator to convey a radio transmitter into Nigeria for broadcast on Radio Biafra.
The IPOB leader is currently facing trial for terrorism due to his push for the actualisation of Biafra.
Meanwhile, the Federal High Court in Abuja has admitted in evidence a radio transmitter allegedly smuggled into Nigeria by the embattled Nnamdi Kanu.
Justice Omotosho also admitted the transmitter along with a 20-foot container in which it was allegedly brought into the country from London.
The items were brought into the country by the self – acclaimed IPOB Leader without necessary Customs documentations.
The Justice admitted the container on Friday as Exhibit PWY and the radio transmitter as Exhibit PWZ during a brief proceeding conducted within the premises of the headquarters of the DSS in Abuja.
The decision of the court to conduct the proceeding in the DSS headquarters followed an oral application by prosecuting lawyer, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), who prayed the court to inspect the transmitter and container which was kept in the DSS facility.
Awomolo made the application midway into the testimony of the fourth prosecution witness, who among others, testified about how the transmitter and container were recovered in a premises in Ubuluisiuzor in Ihiala Local Government of Anambra State.
The prosecuting lawyer said it was impossible for the prosecution to bring the transmitter and the container to the court premises and urged the court to relocate to where they are kept for the purpose of sighting and for the prosecution to tender them.
Defence lawyer, Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) did not object to Awomolo’s application which was subsequently granted by the judge.
Earlier in his testimony, the fourth prosecution witness, a DSS agent, told the court that he knew Kanu as the leader of IPOB, a group campaigning for the secession of the southeastern states, parts of the South-South as well as Benue and Kogi states from Nigeria to form a Biafra Republic.
He said Kanu utilised his Radio Biafra to propagate his messages and incite his followers to engage in violence and other terrorism activities.
The witness, who said he was among those who investigated the allegations against Kanu, told the court that sometimes in October 2015, his agency got intelligence that Kanu smuggled into the country an FM radio transmitter in a container.
He said the transmitter, which was concealed among household items in a container, was not declared to the Nigeria Customs and that it was to be used for Radio Biafra.
The witness said he later saw a video where the defendant (Kanu) and one of his associates, Benjamin Madubugu, were inspecting the transmitter, which they described as a game changer.
“After I watched the video, I was instructed to obtain a warrant, locate the transmitter and relocate it,” the witness said, adding that himself and others located the transmitter in the premises where Modubugu lived with his family and a brother named Francis and relocated it.
He said when the search warrant, obtained from a Chief Magistrates Court in Ihiala, Anambra State, was executed in the residence of Benjamin Madubugu at Ubuluisiuzor, they found the radio transmitter in a 20-feet container; two pump action guns (without licenses), laptop computers, some ammunition, small quantity of marijuana, among others.
“The transmitter was concealed with household items, including second hand clothes. When we asked Benjamin about the other items that we saw in the video, he said one Chimezie came to take them away.”
Awomolo subsequently tendered a video recording showing Kanu inspecting the container and its contents, including the transmitter.
The video showed Kanu being assisted by an individual and being recorded by another, opening the container, identified all its contents and explaining how the transmitter would be deployed.
The video also showed Kanu, with his hand on the transmitter, saying: “This is the monster itself. This is what will destroy enemies of Biafra…this is nuclear monster that will destroy the zoo.”
When asked what Kanu meant by “the zoo,” the witness said the defendant was referring to Nigeria.
The witness said Kanu inspected the container in Madubugu’s premises in Ubuluisiuzor in Ihiala, Anambra State.
He said after recovering the transmitter, they arrested Madubugu, who later made a statement, detailing how the container got to his premises.
The statement, written by Madubugu on November 3, 2015, was admitted in evidence by the court and later read by the witness.
In the statement, Madubugu admitted among others, that he agreed to house the container on the grounds that he will keep it (the container) after all the contents have been evacuated.
Madubugu said Kanu came to inspect that container and said it would be used to broadcast Radio Biafra activities.
He added that Kanu came to his house with Chimezie between March and April 2015 to make the video of the inspection of the container.
The witness said Madubugu was later arraigned with Kanu before the former judge handling the case, Justice Binta Nyako. He added that the joint trial was later separated when Kanu jumped bail, adding that Madubugu is still on trial before Justice Nyako.
PW4 who said he once served in the South-East, told the court that the activities of members of IPOB and its military wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN) have greatly hampered socio-economic activities in that part of the country.
The witness said: “ESN is the military arm of IPOB. All ESN members are IPOB members, but not all IPOB members are ESN.
“They carry out instructions of the defendant, which he broadcast through Radio Biafra. They are trained in the act of guerilla warfare.
“They engage in acts of terrorism.
They maim, kill and propagate hate against other ethnic groups, particularly the Hausa/Fulani.”
The witness said his agency has a desk assigned to monitor and record every broadcast made by Kanu on Radio Biafra.
Awomolo later tendered some audio recordings of the broadcast, which the court admitted in evidence.
In one of the broadcasts, which he made on May 29, 2021, Kanu used disparaging words in describing Minister of Works, David Umahi, former Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha and his successor, Hope Uzodinma.
He described South-East political leaders as fools, vagabonds and idiots and proceeded to declare a sit-at-home for May 31, 2021.
Kanu warned that anybody who disobeys his sit-at-home order by venturing out of his or her house on the said day will die.
“If you come out on the 31st you are going to die and if the zoo army tries anything they will be confronted,” Kanu said, claiming that “the Nigerian Army is made up of cowards, who always attack civilians”.
In another broadcast he made on May 30, Kanu called for complete and total lockdown in the South-East and warned that whoever opens his or her shop will be burnt with the shop.
In his broadcast on May 31, Kanu was heard telling his followers that he did not ask them to attack businesses in the area, but to focus on their enemies.
PW4 said he knew a commander of ESN called Nwokike Anyinayo Andy, who was popularly known as Ikonso, but killed by security forces on the 24, April 2021 in his home town, Awomama, Oru East Local Government of Imo State.
The witness said Kanu made a broadcast on April 25, 2021 in which he mourned the death of Ikonso, spoke highly of him and vowed that there will be repercussions.
Kanu, in the broadcast, claimed that Ikonso was killed in his sleep in his home by state security personnel and not on the battlefield. He said the deceased be buried and mourned in a very special way.
The witness told the court that in one of his broadcasts, Kanu claimed that Ikonso would be buried with 2000 heads, but that when they arrested an IPOB member – Emeyiri Uzoma Benjamin known as Onye Army – he made a statement, confessing that they were only able to get 30 heads.
The prosecution tendered through the witness a publication in Vanguard newspaper, detailing the alleged statement made by Benjamin.
Further hearing in the case has been adjourned till June 18, 19 and 20 within which the prosecution is expected to close its case.
Additional report: Daily Post
