As the Federal Government gets set to commence its prosecution of leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, the Department of State Services (DSS) told a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja that the group was plotting to forcefully free its leader while he is appearing in court.
Kanu, alongside Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi, is being prosecuted on a six-count charge bordering on treason.
This allegation was made by the Director of Public Prosecution, Mohammed Diri, who told the presiding judge, Justice John Tsoho on Monday, that the security agency was already investigating the plot.
Meanwhile, the court has ruled that the Federal Government’s eight witnesses lined up to testify against the defendants could do so from being a witness screen, appearing toset aside its own judgment of February 19.
Lead defence counsel, Chuks Muoma (SAN) had earlier urged the court to strike out the case against his clients, citing the inability of the prosecution to produce the eight witnesses, who had said they would not appear in court to testify if the court would not accede to their request to have their identities hidden behind a mask.
Justice Tsoho dismissed the defence counsel’s objection that the ruling to allow the use of witness screens to hide the witnesses’ identities amounted to revisiting the court’s earlier ruling prohibiting the prosecution witnesses from wearing masks.
The judge upheld Diri’s argument that the witness screen would only protect the witnesses from the members of the public present in court, but not from the judge, accused persons and lawyers, who would be able to see them.
Justice Tsoho also struck out the defence counsel’s application that his clients be set free because the prosecution could not produce its witnesses on Monday, to enable the commencement of the trial.
The judge has fixed commencement of trial for Wednesday.