The
Director of Radio Biafra, who has been in detention since October 14,
2015, when he was arrested by operatives of the DSS upon his arrival in
Nigeria from the United Kingdom, appeared in court today and was
involved in a clash.
Nnamdi Kanu in one of his appearance in court
The trial of a leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi
Kanu, took a dramatic turn Monday, when counsel in the case told Justice
John Tsoho of the Federal High Court that their lives were under
threat.
The prosecuting team also accused Mr. Kanu’s lawyers and family members of constituting threats to its witnesses.
Kanu and two others – Benjamin Maudubugwu and David Nwawuisi, were
brought before the court for alleged treason, maintaining unlawful
society, among other charges.
At the commencement of hearing on Monday, prosecution counsel,
Mohammed Diri, informed the court that Kanu’s lawyer had altercation
with members of the State Security Service while trying to enter the
courtroom, Monday morning.
Reading from a short note he claimed was written by a staff of the
SSS, Diri said the defence counsel and members of Kanu’s family were
constituting threats to the lives of witnesses.
He asked the court to adjourn the matter till such a time when the
witnesses would be granted the needed protection to help them
confidently testify in court. But the lead counsel to Kanu, Chux Muoma,
asked the court to grant permission to Ifeayi Ejiofor, the counsel who
had altercation with the SSS, to explain what happened.
When Ejiofor was given permission to speak, he accused SSS
operatives of trying to kill him. According to Ejiofor, he had gone to
intervene in a dispute between members of Mr. Kanu’s family and staff of
the SSS.
He said at the scene of the disagreement, he was told that the SSS
staff were blocking Kanu’s family members from entering the court.
Ejiofor said the SSS operatives at the scene insisted that they
would only allow three additional family members of Kanu to join those
already in the court premises.
He said when he (Mr. Ejiofor) tried to explain to them that there
was an order of court permitting members of the public to witness the
proceedings, Ejiofor said a staff of the SSS threatened to kill him.
He therefore prayed the court to take note of the threat. “My lord I will like you to take note of this threat to my life, because I don’t know what will happen tomorrow,” Ejiofor said.
The trial judge, Tsoho, who noted that events had taken a different
turn from what was expected, added that if the parties to the matter
felt threatened, the case might as well be handed over to the celestial
order to resolve.
He asked the parties to decide whether or not they wanted the trial to continue.
The matter was thereafter stepped down for a 30-minute break to enable parties determine the way forward for the matter.
The court had adjourned the matter on February 19, for today March 7.
Source: Premium Times
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