April 25 2017
A magistrate court sitting in the Bayelsa state capital, Yenagoa, has set free about forty-four members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) from police detention.
The Sun reports that the IPOB members were arrested in October 2016 by men of the Joint Military Task Force code named Operation Delta Safe during their meeting at Okaka area of the state capital and handed to the police authorities for prosecution.
The Bayelsa state police command charged the accused persons on three count charges bordering on conspiracy, beach of public peace and unlawful gathering. But counsel to the arrested IPOB members, Barr. Kingsley Nwosu, had argued before the court for a no case submission, describing the arrest and trial of the IPOB members as a deliberate attempt to intimidate and violate the fundamental rights of people to freedom of gathering.
Read Also: Biafra: Court Grants Nnamdi Kanu Bail With Stringent Conditions...Adjourns Trial to 11th July, 2017
Nwosu said the prosecution, the Nigerian Police, failed to produce a credible witness to substantiate the three count charges against the IPOB members. NAIJ.com learnt that in delivering judgement, on Tuesday, April 25, the court struck out the case against the detained 44 IPOB members on the ground that it had a no case submission.
They were subsequently discharge and acquitted. The presiding magistrate, Magistrate Penawei Mukoro, before striking out case, declared that the prosecution was unable to establish a prima-facie case against them.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu, has been whisked away by operatives of Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Prisons Service after he was granted bail by a Federal High Court in Abuja.
Read Also: Biafra: "Any Attempt To Flout Court’s Order On Kanu’s Bail Will Bring An End To His Trial— Barrister Ejiofor
NAIJ.com reports that Nnamdi Kanu and the other three accused persons were taken in a green prison vehicle escorted by four other black hilux vans. Although, it is still unclear when the bail conditions will be perfected by the IPOB leader, but Kanu's relatives left immediately to make arrangements for the release the IPOB leader.
Source: NAIJ
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