A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the remand of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra and founder of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, in prison.
Justice James Tsoho made the order on Wednesday after Kanu was arraigned on charges of treason and other offences bordering on his agitation for the secession of a Republic of Biafra from Nigeria.
Kanu, who has been remanded since October 14, 2015 by the Department of State Services, was arraigned along with two others –Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi.
The judge, in ordering the remand of the accused persons in prison, overruled the request by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr. Mohammed Diri, for an order further remanding the accused persons in the custody of the DSS.
The order came as a relief to the defence team, led on Wednesday by Mr. Chuks Mouoma (SAN), who had complained that the accused persons had been denied access to their families and lawyers since their arrest by the DSS on October 14, 2015.
A Magistrate’s Court, in Wuse Zone 2, Abuja, had earlier granted bail to Kanu and also made similar order, directing the DSS to release Kanu to the prison authorities.
Also, Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the same Federal High Court in Abuja had, on December 17, 2015, granted an unconditional bail to Kanu from the DSS custody.
But rather than release the IPOB leader, the Federal Government filed the fresh six counts, including treasonable felony, against the three accused persons barely 24 hours after Justice Ademola made the latest order.
On December 23, 2015, when Kanu and the two co-accused persons were produced in court for arraignment, the IPOB leader refused to take his plea due to what he called his lack of confidence in the presiding judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed.
The case was later reassigned to Justice Tsoho.
After the accused persons pleaded not guilty to the six counts on Wednesday, Diri urged the court to order that Kanu be further remanded in the DSS custody for ease of conveying him to court, considering the security risk involved in bringing him to court from a farther location like the Kuje Prison.
But Muouma opposed the request, insisting that the “issue of convenience”, raised by the prosecution, could not override the position of the law.
He said, “The DPP himself has said this morning that investigation into the case has been completed. So, why do you still have to keep him?. The complainant, the DSS, cannot be the judge in its own case. The federal prison is the appropriate neutral party to keep an accused person.
“Once a defendant has been charged and arraigned, the proper and constitutional place of custody for remand is the prison. That is the age-long procedure we are familiar with.”
The judge, in his ruling, dismissed the prosecution’s request and upheld the argument by the defence lawyer that the law only permitted that accused person, who had taken his plea, could only be remanded in prison.
The judge has fixed Monday, January 25, 2015, for the hearing of the bail application filed on behalf of the accused persons.
Meanwhile, Eight pro-Biafra activists, who were arrested for protesting against the continued detention of Kanu, have been arraigned in a Magistrates’ Court in Enugu.
The activists, who were arrested while planning a protest in a part of Enugu metropolis on Monday, are Nwangwu Friday, 26; Chekwube Eneta, 28; Chigozie Mba, 29; Isaiah Ogazi, 28; Onyekachukwu Uzoma, 43; Onyemalu Princewill, 26; Israel Ani, 18; and Ugwuobu Kelechi, 24.
The Enugu State Police Command, which arrested the activists, charged them with offences of “conspiracy, conduct likely to cause a breach of public peace and belonging to an unlawful society.”
Also, the Rivers State Police Command said it had arraigned 10 suspected pro-Biafran protesters at the Magistrates’ Court in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
The State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ahmad Mohammad, disclosed that the accused were arrested between January 16 and 18, 2016 and were taken to court on Wednesday. (Nnamdi Kanu)