Indigenous People of Biafra arrested on 20th January, 2017 during Trump Solidarity rally, have been discharged and acquitted of all charges against them today at Magistrate court Port Harcourt.
News reaching BVI Channel this morning states that 45 Indigenous people of Biafra regained their freedom, after the court ruled out ever charge levied against them by Federal Government of Nigeria through the prosecuting council.
According to the Chief Magistrate, Andrew Jaja, “I have no other reason to detain this innocent people here anymore, they are free of crime and are lawful people, I hereby discharge them all with immediate effect.”
They were charged for treason and treasonable felony.
The trial of Radio Biafra Director and 3 others Nnamdi Kanu is to begin on March 20.
He will be tried along with three others— Chidiebere Onwudiwe, Benjamin Madubugwu and an engineer, David Nwawuisi.
Justice Binta Murtala Nyako gave the defendants the opportunity to file another bail application but warned that they must be prepared for the trial. She struck out six of the charges. The remaining five were sustain.
Justice Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja, in a ruling, held that the six counts were not supported by the proof of evidence the prosecution submitted in court to support the charge it filed against Kanu and others.
The ruling was on separate notices of objection filed by Kanu, Onwudiwe and Nwawuisi, challenging the validity of the six counts.
Justice Nyako said the proof of evidence failed to disclose any prima facie case against the defendants in relation to the six counts.
The six counts are 3, 5, 7, 9, 10 and 11 in which they were charged with managing unlawful organisation, intention to manufacture Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) to be used against some Nigerian security agents and alleged improper importation of a radio transmitter.
Justice Nyako was of the view that the allegation in Count 3 relating to “managing of unlawful society punishable under section 63 of the Criminal Code Act” could not be substantiated by the proof of evidence.
She said the proof of evidence failed to show that IPOB was indeed an unlawful organisation, noting that the prosecution failed to show that IPOB had been proscribed or that it was not registered either in Nigeria or London.
The judge said the alleged, “improper importation of goods contrary to section 47(1) (a) (i) of the Customs and Excise Management Act” levelled against Kanu in Count 5 did not disclose the elements of the alleged offence bordering on the importation of a Radio Transmitter known as TRAM 50L.
The judge held that the allegation in Count 7 accusing Madubugwu of “managing of unlawful society punishable under section 63 of the Criminal Code Act” by accepting and keeping a container housing the radio transmitter which he allegedly knew was to be used for Radio Biafra, also did not disclose any element of the alleged crime.
She said count 9 in which Onwudiwe and Nwawuisi were charged with “conspiracy to commit treasonble felony contrary to Section 516 of the Criminal Code Act” did not disclose the elements of the alleged crime.
Justice Nyako said the count failed to disclose which of the acts of installation of the transmitter on the MTN mast site at Ogui Road, near St. Michale Church, Enugu State, and the agreement on the payment of N150,000 was the act that constituted the offence of conspiracy to commit treasonable felony.
The judge also struck out Count 10, which accused Nwawuisi of engaging in the “management of unlawful society punishable under section 63 of the Criminal Code Act”.
The prosecution had accused Nwawuisi of the offence for allegedly permitting the installation of Radio Biafra transmitter on the MTN mast for the purpose of propagating the objective of IPOB after being paid the sum of N150,000 by Onwudiwe.
Justice Nyako said the count could not stand because the proof that the IPOB was an unlawful society was not provided in the proof.
The judge also struck out Count 11, which accused Onwudiwe of “knowingly committing an act preparatory to an act of terrorism” by allegedly “carrying out research for the purpose of identifying and gathering of improvised explosive device-making materials to be used gainst Nigerian security operatives carrying out their lawful duties”.
The prosecution alleged in the count that Onwudiwe had by the act, committed an offence of “terrorism contrary to section 2(1)(a) of Terrorism (Prevention) Amendment Act 2011 as amended in 2013”.
The judge agreed with the defence that since the offence only had to do with an intention to commit a particular act, it was the magistrate court that had the jurisdiction to entertain such charge.
The judge sustained Counts 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8.
They are, in count 1, charged with “conspiracy to commit treasonable felony contrary to Section 516 of the Criminal Code act” by conspiring among themselves to broadcast on Radio Biafra “for states in the South-East and South-South zones and other communities in Kogi and Benue states to secede from the Federal Republic of Nigeria with a view to constituting same into Republic of Biafra”.
In count 2, Kanu is charged with treasonable felony by broadcasting in London between 2014 and 2015, calling for the secession of Republic of Biafra from Nigeria.
Count 4 accused Kanu of “publication of defamatory matter contrary to section 375 of the Criminal Code Act” by referring to the then Maj-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd) and now President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as “a paedophile, a terrorist, an idiot, and an embodiment of evil” in a broadcast on Radio Biafra on April 28, 2015.
Count 6 accused Kanu of “improper importation of goods contrary to section 47(2)(a) of the Customs and Excise Management Act” by allegedly concealing a radio transmitter in a container of used household items and declaring the transmitter as part of the used household items.
Count 8 which accused Madubugwu of being in possession of one Emerald Magnum Pump Action Gun with serial number TS 870 – 113 – 0046 and one Delta Magnum Pump Action Gun with serial number 501 as well as 41 cartridges/ammunition without lawful authority or licence, was also sustained.
Madubugwu was said to been caught with the firearms at his house in Ubulusuzor in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State in October 2015.
German authorities have arrested two Syrians suspected of being members of the extremist Nusra Front, with one of them alleged to have been involved in the murder of dozens of civilians.
Abdalfatah HA, 35, is suspected of war crimes over the killing of 36 Syrian government employees by his unit in March 2013, the federal prosecutor’s office said.
The statement said he carried out “so-called Shariah death sentences”.
A spokeswoman for the prosecutors’ office, Frauke Koehler, declined to confirm German media reports that the man came to Germany as an asylum seeker.
The other suspect, 26-year-old Abdulrahman AA, belonged to the same combat unit as Abdalfatah HA and both participated in an armed battle against Syrian government troops, including taking over a big arms depot near Mahin in November 2013, the statement added.
The men, whose surnames were not published due to German privacy rules, were arrested in the western cities of Dusseldorf and Giessen and their apartments were raided.
They were due to appear before a judge.
Prosecutors said the Nusra Front unit the men belonged to also included Abd Arahman AK, a Syrian in his early thirties who was arrested in Germany last June on suspicion of being part of a plot to carry out a bomb attack in Dusseldorf.
Human rights groups have pressed governments to bring people suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria to trial, as part of an effort to resolve the long-running conflict.
The European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) said it has helped submit the first criminal complaint in Germany against six high-level Syrian military intelligence officials, in the hope that federal prosecutors will take up the case under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
This allows German courts to try crimes committed outside the country, though legal experts say that they are unlikely to do so unless there is a reasonable chance of bringing the perpetrators to Germany.
The ECCHR complaint was filed together with seven Syrian torture survivors and two Syrian lawyers.
“In Syria there is total impunity, which produces further violence. Without justice there will be no political solution to the conflict,” Mazen Darwish, one of the Syrian lawyers, was quoted as saying in a statement.
ABEOKUTA— Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday, condemned attacks by South African youths on Nigerians and other African nationals in their country.
Obasanjo’s condemnation came as Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, is set to lead a seven- member delegation of the Senate to South Africa over the attacks.
This is even as militants in Niger Delta have called on the Federal Government to order all South African-owned businesses out of the country within 30 days.
Obasanjo, who blamed the attacks on the insincerity of the government in South Africa, spoke while receiving the leadership of the Nigeria Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies, NIPSS, Kuru, Jos, who paid him a courtesy call at Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
He said the current development in South Africa betrayed the contribution of Nigeria to the struggle for the emancipation of the country during the apartheid era.
He blamed the exodus of Nigerians and other African nationals in search of non-existing greener pasture on their leaders and called on African heads of government to ensure good governance for the overall development of the continent and its teeming population.
Obasanjo blamed South African youths for their immaturity, while hitting their leaders more for allowing fellow Africans to rise against themselves.
Ekweremadu leads Senate delegation to S-Africa.
Similarly, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, is to lead a seven-member delegation of the Senate to South Africa.
The delegation, which is charged with the responsibility of engaging South African parliamentarians on the matter, also has as members Senate Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan, APC, Yobe North; Senate Chief Whip, Senator Olusola Adeyeye, APC, Osun Central; Senator Shehu Sani, APC, Kaduna Central; Senator Magnus Abe, APC, Rivers East and Senator Stella Oduah, PDP, Anambra North.
Militants give S/African firms 30-day ultimatum.
Meanwhile, militants in Niger Delta have called on the Federal Government to order all South African owned businesses out of the country within 30 days.
In a statement in Port Harcourt, yesterday, the militants, acting under the aegis of Niger Delta Watchdogs, Niger Delta Volunteers and Niger Delta Strike Force, said they would not keep quiet while South Africans continued to kill and maim Nigerians doing business in their country.
Generals John Duku, Ekpo Ekpo and Hart Bradford said if South African investments did not pull out of the country at the end of the 30 days ultimatum, they should be ready for any form of attack.
The militants said: “Failure to close down these companies within one month, we shall mobilize in full force and commence massive attack on South African-owned investments in Nigeria, we shall also make sure that all MTN masts and offices are brought down.”
‘’We want to state that the attack will mark the end of this nonsense because we would not fold our arms and allow this to continue.”
‘’Therefore, we call on the Nigerian government to immediately close down all the business premises owned by South Africans,’’ the militants said.
The Notorious Kidnapper Henry Chibueze alias Vampire has been killed by the Police Special Force led by the IGP Intelligence Response Team (IRT)
The said criminal named Vampire was reported months ago escaped from court as his men stormed the court premises, shooting sporadically and whisking the guy Chidiebere aka Vampire in the process. He is notorious for his high rate of crimes ranging from Arm robbery, kidnapping and other violent crimes.
Nigeria’s secular status is now under test as the country’s participation in the planned Islamic Games is causing uneasiness in the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development.
The AUTHORITY learnt that while preparations have been intensified from behind the scenes for the 4th edition of the Islamic Solidarity Games holding in Baku, Azerbaijan, some officers at the ministry have kicked against the move because it breaches Nigeria’s secular position on global religious matters.
They allegedly expressed concerns over plans by the Solomon Dalung-led Ministry of Youth and Sports to take part in the games which is alleged to have the backing of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (IOC).
Nigeria has over the years starved off pressure to feature at the regional multi-sport games, giving its secular status as reason.
It was gathered that the position may have changed under the Muhammadu Buhari administration
It was learnt that Buhari had endorsed the participation of Nigerian sports men and women, and even dispatched a delegation led by Christian Ohaa, a former Permanent Secretary in the ministry to attend the Chief de Mission meeting held in Baku last year.
Sources said that the plot to drag Nigeria into the Islamic Games has been resisted by some members of staff of the ministry, who believe that the Federal Government is not properly advised before it took the decision.
“These regional games are purely for the Muslim world and I doubt if a secular state like Nigeria should concern itself with it. Those who are pushing for it ought to know that they are not doing this administration any good. Recall that critics of the administration have accused Buhari of plots to Islamise Nigeria. Sending a delegation to this games would only add, not subtract from this raging accusation”, one of the concerned officials said.
The opponents of the move argued that Nigeria’s participation in the games is not captured in the 2017 Budget but the ministry has been assured of necessary funds from extra budgetary sources like the National Lottery Trust Fund (NLTF).
The Islamic Solidarity Games is a regional multi-sporting event held among Islamic nations.
The first edition was held in Saudi Arabia in 2005 while the 2013 edition took place in Indonesia.
Sports that feature in the games are athletics, para-athletics, boxing, judo, karate, football, gymnastics, basketball, handball, volleyball, swimming, water polo, table tennis, weightlifting and tennis. Others are wrestling, taekwondo and shooting.
The 2016 edition of Igbo Day celebrations in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), may have come and gone, but the dust raised at the event is yet to settle.
Last week, the Centre for Igbo Arts and Culture (CIAC), Abuja, tackled the organisers of the celebrations, which held on September 29, 2016, at the Old Parade Ground, Area 10, Garki, for conducting the programme in English.
Addressing a press conference titled “Before Our Language Dies,” as part of activities marking this year’s International Mother Language Day, CIAC chairman, Sir Kanayo Okoye, said the use of English to conduct Igbo Day and other cultural events in the FCT and other places had made Ndigbo the object of ridicule before other ethnic nationalities: “Ndigbo often feel uncomfortable speaking their God-given language at public functions or gatherings, with the notion that their Igbo audience would simply regard them as illiterates. It was, therefore, embarrassing that English was the medium of communication during last year’s Igbo Day in Abuja.
“This unfortunate state of affairs, which has persisted over the years, has, no doubt, brought disrespect and contempt from other Nigerians who now discredit Ndigbo as a people without language or culture. We should show some pride in ourselves and salvage this ugly trend.”
Okoye, whose speech was delivered by the CIAC administrative secretary, Mr. Ifeanyi Atuenyi, was, however, impressed by the lively, colourful and rich celebration of the annual new yam festival in various cities and communities throughout Igboland, Nigeria and beyond.
Undoubtedly, the Iri Ji Ndigbo (new yam festival) has become a much cherished aspect of Igbo culture celebrated lately wherever the Igbo live across the globe.
CIAC also lamented the preponderance of Igbo children who could not speak their native language, blaming the anomaly on mothers for allegedly brainwashing “them into believing that Igbo language is ‘local’. The result is that English has taken over as the first language of our children, which has become the language they learn first and the language they speak last.”
The centre did not spare schools as it also held teachers liable for allegedly indoctrinating the children against speaking vernacular, while at home, parents profess the same negative gospel with the illusion that speaking the indigenous language would corrupt and portray the child as unrefined and interfere with his learning of English.
CIAC, therefore, urged mothers to know that raising a child in the mother tongue would not have any adverse psychological effect on the child, and that there is nothing wrong with a child learning two or more languages during the early days of development. “In fact, children are naturally endowed with the capacity of learning multiple languages, which provide them the opportunity to broaden their intellect and mental growth,” he said.
Good news for Ndigbo
The 2016 Igbo Day ceremonies did not go down well with a large number of Igbo residents in the FCT; some prominent political office holders from the South-East inclusive.
To arrest the ugly trend, the Igbo traditional institution, headed by the Igbo 1 of Abuja, Eze Ibe Nwosu, has met over the issue and would soon make a pronouncement.
Indications emerged last week that leaders of the Igbo in Abuja may have decided to ban the use of English in conducting any cultural activity within the FCT.
A Board of Trustees member of the Igbo Centre, Mr. Edward Ihemebiri, disclosed that the issue was being discussed among the top echelo of Ohanaeze Ndigbo.
He noted that the efforts of CIAC in promoting Igbo language and culture, including reaching out to the FCT education authorities and notable private schools for the recruitment of Igbo Language teachers, were being frustrated by counter-productive practises such as the use of English at Igbo ceremonies.
Daily Sun learnt that, following these resolutions, no fewer than seven Igbo Language teachers have now been employed by the FCT through the efforts of the Igbo Centre.
The Ochigbo of Kuje, Chief Dominic Anigbo, who represented the Eze Igbo of Abuja at the press conference, confirmed that something would be done about the unwanted trend, even though he attributed the declining interest in Igbo language to the “near-nomadic” nature of Ndigbo who travel round the world for trade and other business.
Anigbo, who traced the link between the Igbo and the Jews of Israel, regretted that even traditional relics like shrines (mbari) that are still seen in Israel today could hardly be seen anymore in many parts of Igboland: “If you go to Israel, you see them; they are in America. What is killing our culture is that we travel too much. There is no part of the world where you will not find an Igbo man.”
He commended CIAC for its contributions in preserving and promoting Igbo cultural heritage, recalling that the Eze Igbo of Ghana had initiated similar a programme, which included engaging Igbo Language teachers for some schools in the former Gold Coast.
Despite the prevailing circumstances, CIAC has said that all hope is not lost. It described the recent decision of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to add Igbo as one of the 30 new languages to be used in presenting programmes as heart-warming.
Atuenyi said that the BBC platform would be a major boost to the promotion of Igbo language and culture, while Ndigbo should actively support and promote the programme by tuning in to it.
He also enjoined content developers to take advantage of the on-going digitisation of broadcasting to develop more Igbo content for radio and television side by side the opportunity offered by Multichoice through Africa Magic Igbo.
Challenge to governors, Ohanaeze
Some Igbo people living in Abuja told Daily Sun that state governments in the South-East and the apex Igbo socio-cultural body, Ohanaeze, have to pick the gauntlet.
They wondered how an Igbo man in any other part of the world would be expected to be ‘proud’ of his mother tongue when no South-East governor conducts government business in Igbo.
“It might sound laughable, but some governors in the South-East even address their people in English when they visit their communities,” a respondent, Mr. Kelechi Udemba, said.
Ihemebiri recalled, albeit painfully, that only former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, responded to letters written to all the South East governors some years back by the CIAC enjoining them to, once or twice a week, conduct government functions in Igbo, including their State Executive Council meetings.
He noted that Anambra made it a policy for sometime under Obi, but, “It is a matter of deep regret, however, that only little effort has been made to stem the dangerous tide that is currently eroding the cherished Igbo language and culture among Ndigbo themselves.”
“To further compound the ugly situation, our governors and leaders, except, perhaps, former Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State, are not helping matters as they fail to direct their attention towards reviving our language or culture,” he said.
CIAC also had a word for the new leadership of Ohanaeze Ngigbo, headed by Chief Nnia Nwodo.
The centre saluted Ohanaeze on the recently concluded election but urged them to “wake up from their passiveness and embarrassing leadership tussle and take up the challenge of promoting Igbo essence, language and culture.”
CIAC said: “There is no gainsaying that we have suffered unimaginable neglect and loss of influence in the affairs of the nation due to lack of a vibrant and focussed leadership from our past and present organisation of Ohanaeze and South-East governors.”
It therefore, called for a rethink, so that Ndigbo could live up to their God endowed capabilities towards always projecting Igbo agenda on all fronts
It is difficult to understand how black people reason. Most people are lazy to think or reason. Once they believe one line of argument, they shot their brain. This is the irony of our problem in Nigeria. This is why we cannot generate electricity for our factories. This is why we cannot supply affordable water to our various communities. This is why nothing is working yet we go to church to sleep for miracle.
Thedirector of Radio Biafra Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, played host to some prominent Nigerians on Tuesday.
Former CBN governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo and renowned economist, Dr. Pat Utomi, led the delegation to Kuje prison, where Kanu is currently in detention.
While the purpose of the visit is not yet clear at the time of this report, it was gathered that the visit was made under the umbrella of Nzuko Umuna, a coalition of Igbo group.
Sources said that the group cuts across all the major groups in the South-east including those in diaspora.
Secretary General of the Lower Niger Congress, Tony Nnadi, who was part of the visit was quoted as saying that the group would work with all aggrieved Igbo groups
Nnadi said: “We have announced a process, on January 1, 2017, the LNC rolled out a registration of three million volunteers who want a referendum.”
“The matter now is how to put a date for the referendum and go to vote.”
Below is a full list of the delegation:
Chukwuma Soludo – Former CBN governor
Pat Utomi – Renowned economist
Tony Nnadi – Secretary general of LNC
Udenta Udenta – National secretary of Alliance Democracy
THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS - JULY 23: View of the International Criminal Court as Dutch prosecuters consider a war crimes investigation of the Malaysia Airlines crash July 23, 2014 in The Hague, The Netherlands. Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed killing all 298 on board including 80 children. The aircraft was allegedly shot down by a missile and investigations continue over the perpetrators of the attack.
Posters of Barack Obama have popped up around Paris in what started as a joke by four friends pretending to launch a campaign for the former US leader ahead of France’s presidential election.
CREDIT: AFP
Even though the former US president cannot legally run in the two-round April-May election as a foreigner, the jokesters’ online petition has been signed by more than 42,000 people.
The organisers, who came up with idea over beer, say they launched the website and began plastering Obama17 posters around Paris because they were disenchanted with the candidates running in France’s election.
The slogan is “Oui on peut” – French for “Yes we can”.
“We like saying it’s a joke, but in truth the idea takes its roots in us being fed up with French citizens rejecting politics,” said one of the organisers. “We’re scared this (rejection) will push people to vote for candidates outside the system like Trump in the US. We don’t want that,” she told BFM TV.
The online petition states that it hopes to reach a million signatories before March 15 in favour of Mr Obama in time for the closing date for candidacies, even if his inclusion is the election is impossible, as it is only open to French nationals.
Why Mr Obama? Because, it says, he has “the best CV in the world for the job”, it is “still possible to vote for a president and not against a candidate”, and because “at a time when France is about to vote massively for a far-Right candidate, we can teach the rest of the planet a lesson in democracy by electing a French president who is a foreigner”.
Front National candidate Marine Le Pen is polling to come first in the election’s first round on April 23 and then to lose to Emmanuel Macron, an independent ex-economy minister on a “neither Right nor Left” ticket in the run-off on May 7.
The organisers say they want citizens to take back control of the elections and are admirers of the Podemos group in Spain, pointing out that the English translation for the movement is close to Mr Obama’s catch phrase of “Yes we can”.
Aides of front runner Mr Macron have already likened him to Mr Obama.
“I see a campaign dynamic that is the same,” claimed Laurence Haïm, spokeswoman of his En Marche! (On The Move!) who lived in America until recently.
