….. Radio Biafra transmitters installed on MTN masts —FG
The Department of State Services (DSS) has revealed how its men arrested the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.
The DSS said Kanu had lodged in a Lagos hotel under a fictitious name and would have escaped arrest if not for the doggedness of its men.
It explained how arms and ammunition were recovered at the Ubulusiuzor, Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State home of one of Kanu’s associates, Benjamin Madubugwu.
The information was contained in some documents filed with a fresh six-count charge against Kanu, Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi.
A DSS operative, Temisan John, who led the team that arrested Kanu on October 14, said Kanu was apprehended in the company of a woman at the Golden Tulip Essential Lagos Airport Hotel located at 42/44, Murtala Mohammed International Aiprot Road, Ikeja, Lagos.
“On arrival at the hotel, the staff denied having Kanu there or having any knowledge of him, even when showed his photograph. The guest manifest, for about five days, was also printed and the name was not found on any.
“However, relying on accurate intelligence, the team decided to conduct a physical search on all the rooms and Kanu was arrested in Room 303 while hibernating with a young girl, Maryam Ibezimakor, with all his broadcasting and communication gadgets set for use.
“It was then discovered that Kanu checked in under the name Nwanekaenyi Ezebuiro. He was subsequently arrested and taken to the command headquarters.”
Another DSS operative, Mohammed Ahmed, who led the search of Madubugwu’s house, said items recovered in the house included “two pump-action guns loaded with ammunition, one Emerald pump-action gun with serial number: TS870-113-0046 and one Delta Magnum pump-action gun with serial number 501.”
Kanu, Madubugwu and Nwawuisi (identified as a Field Maintenance Engineer with MTN Nigeria), were to be arraigned on December 23, but Kanu stalled the proceedings when he told the trial judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed, that he doubted his ability to give a fair trial.
This prompted Justice Mohammed to withdraw from the case and direct that the case file be returned to the court’s Chief Judge for reassignment to another judge.
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.