Federal prosecutors filed charges against three Lebanese men for being members of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah and providing weapons for terrorist activities.
The three pleaded not guilty to the charges today in a court in the capital, Abuja, where they appeared after a magistrate court declined to try them on June 19, saying it lacked jurisdiction over the matter. A fourth Lebanese citizen was investigated and released, defense lawyer Ahmed Raji said.
Nigeria is fighting an insurgency by Boko Haram, a Sunni Islamist organization seeking to establish Shariah law in Nigeria. Hezbollah, a Shiite militant group, is backed by Iran and has fought with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces against predominantly Sunni Muslim rebels in Syria.
The charges filed today by the prosecution didn’t give details on the alleged terrorist activities or whether the men were involved with Boko Haram.
The men were also charged with agreeing to receive training “in preparation to engage in the commission of a terrorist act,” according to the charges, which didn’t provide details.
Mustapha Fawaz, who also has Nigerian citizenship and is a co-owner of an amusement park and a popular supermarket in Abuja, allegedly “permitted a meeting connected with an act of terrorism to be held in that premises,” according to the charges.
The U.S. and Israel classify Hezbollah as a terrorist group.
Nigeria doesn’t accuse Hezbollah of being a terrorist organization, Raji told reporters after the hearing. The defendants say they aren’t members of the group, he said.
[Bloomberg]