The Federal Government has said
the transmitters for Radio Biafra, which has been accused of spreading
secessionist agenda and campaigning for the carving out of a Biafra Republic
from Nigeria, were found to be installed on MTN masts in Enugu and Anambra states.
According to the Federal
Government, the installation of the transmitters on the telecommunications
company’s masts was to ensure wider coverage for the radio.
The headquarters of the radio
station is “presumably in London.”
This is contained in the
government’s case summary of the fresh six counts of treason and other
ancillary offences instituted against the founder of Radio Biafra and leader of
the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, and two others, before the
Federal High Court in Abuja.
One of the two other defendants
in the six counts filed by the Federal Government is a field maintenance
engineer, David Nwawuisi, charged with the responsibility of maintaining the
MTN masts in Enugu State.
The other defendant, Benjamin
Madubugwu, was said to be living in Ubilisiuzo, Ihiala Local Government Area of
Anambra State, where he allegedly received custody of a container housing
transmitters from Kanu.
On December 23, during the
accused persons’ appearance in court for their scheduled arraignment, Kanu
refused to take his plea due to what he called his lack of confidence in the
presiding judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed.
The judge promptly returned the
case file to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta,
for reassignment to another judge and the three accused persons were returned
to the custody of the Department of State Services.
The fresh charges were filed
against the three men barely 24 hours after Justice Adeniyi Ademola, in a
ruling on Kanu’s bail application on December 17, ordered his unconditional
release from DSS custody, having been detained for about two months without any
valid charges filed against him.
The Federal Director of Public
Prosecutions, Mr. Mohammed Diri, who signed the fresh charges, the case summary
and other processes accompanying them on behalf of the government, alleged that
Nwawuisi installed the transmitters on MTN masts “on request by an IPOB member,
Chidibere Onwudiwe.”
Diri added, “The 3rd defendant
(Nwawuisi), a Field Maintenance Engineer, charged with the responsibility of
maintaining MTN masts in Enugu State, was also arrested in the course of the
investigation.
“He agreed, on the request of an
IPOB member, who is at large, Chidebere Onwudiwe, to install and did install
IPOB radio transmitters on MTN masts for a consideration.”
The prosecution alleged that the
transmitters were smuggled into Nigeria by Kanu and were discovered during a
search in Madubugwu’s residence.
While Kanu was accused of
treasonable felony, management of an unlawful society (IPOB), and smuggling of
goods, including radio transmitters, into the country, Madubugwu and Nwawuisi
were accused of assisting in the management of the said unlawful group.
The prosecution alleged, in the
six counts, that the transmitters were installed on the MTN masts between April
and May 2015.
The sixth count read, “That you,
David Nwawuisi, at Enugu and Anambra states, between April and May 2015
assisted in the management of an illegal society by doing an act to wit: you
permitted one Chidiebere Onwudiwe, now at large, to install Radio Biafra
transmitters with knowledge that the said transmitters were property of the
Indigenous People of Biafra, an unlawful society, with the intention to
propagate its secession intention and that you thereby committed an offence
punishable under Section 6 of the Criminal Code Act, CAP C38, Laws of the
Federation of Nigeria.”
Kanu was said to have on many
occasions broadcast on the radio, which is said to have as its Mission
Statement, ‘The defence of the rights of the Indigenous People of Biafra; and
ultimately the actualisation of the Republic of Biafra’, reiterating that
“Biafra must be realised.”
The case summary reads, “In one
of such broadcasts on August 1, 2015, he called on members of IPOB in the
Diaspora to identify children of Nigerian dignitaries, their residences and
schools, with a view to taking reprisal action against them in the event of
attacks against Biafrans by Nigerian security agents.”
The Federal Government said the
proponents of the Republic of Biafra proposed that the republic would consist
of “states in the South-East and South-South regions except that in the case of
Edo State, only the Igbanke community will be part of the Republic of Biafra as
well as the Igalas in Kogi State and the Idomas in Benue State.”
No new date has been fixed for
the arraignment of the accused persons.
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