….Kanu still denied change of clothes by DSS, Ozekhome laments
The Department of State Services, DSS, yesterday narrated before the Federal High Court in Abuja, how it carried out an operation that led to the arrest of IPoB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, in 2015.
This was disclosed when the Federal Government opened its case against the detained leader of IPoB,
The development came as the court granted permission to conceal the identities of all witnesses due to testify in the case.
Trial Justice James Omotosho approved the measure following an ex parte application submitted by the Federal Government (FG), represented by its prosecution team led by Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN.
The judge allowed the witnesses to testify behind a screen, with their real names replaced by pseudonyms.
Awomolo, arguing for the FG, emphasised that the witnesses required protection due to security concerns and the gravity of the case.
While the witnesses would be shielded from public view, both the judge and the defendant would still be able to see them.
The defence team, led by Kanu Agabi, a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, raised no objections to the arrangement.
Following Justice Omotosho’s ruling, the FG called its first witness, identified only as PWAAA.
In his evidence-in-chief, the witness testified that he led the security operatives who arrested the defendant on 14th October 2015 in a room at the Golden Tulip Hotel, near Lagos International Airport.
Kanu, who had just returned to Nigeria from the United Kingdom (UK), was reportedly with a woman when the arrest took place
Narrating what transpired, the witness told the court that the DSS, acting on intelligence, deployed an eight-man team of operatives to the hotel where Kanu was arrested during a room-to-room search.
He said the team decided to search all the rooms in the hotel after they could not find Kanu’s name on the manifest.
According to the witness, it was after Kanu was arrested that it was discovered that he used his native name to secure the hotel accommodation.
Kanu’s legal team did not raise any objection.
In the statement that was read in the open court, Kanu denied his alleged link to violence in the South East region of the country.
He maintained that his struggle for the emancipation of the South East, South South and parts of Benue and Kogi states, was his fundamental human right and not terrorism, as alleged by the government.
The embattled IPoB leader further contended that freedom fighting, which he was involved in, is neither a crime in Nigeria nor in any part of the world, describing it as a basic right.
Confirming that he established Radio Biafra, the IPoB leader insisted that it was duly registered in the UK, where he resided.
Justice Omotosho adjourned the case till Friday to enable Kanu’s lawyer to cross-examine the witness.
Kanu, whose trial started de-novo (afresh) following the reassignment of his case-file to Justice Omotosho, had earlier pleaded not guilty to a seven-count treasonable felony charge the government preferred against him.
Meanwhile, the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, yesterday, took a swipe at the court proceedings at the Federal High Court, presided over by Justice Omotosho, in the trial of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
Spokesman of the group, Emma Powerful in a release said: “To the shock and dismay of all present, including international observers, the so-called evidence consisted of four boxes containing Mazi Kanu’s personal belongings: wristwatches, a microphone, a DJ mixer (falsely labeled a transmitter), cables, Arabian perfumes purchased for his mother and mother-in-law, a brown shoe, laptops, chargers, and phones. No bombs, guns, grenades, or attack plans were found because none existed.
“This revelation lays bare the truth: there is no evidence to support the grave accusations leveled against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. The items presented in court are not weapons of terrorism but ordinary possessions of a man who has consistently and openly declared his mission as a freedom fighter dedicated to the liberation of his people through peaceful means, including a referendum.
“With utmost humility, IPoB calls on the Federal Government of Nigeria and the United Kingdom to end this charade masquerading as a trial. The persecution of Mazi Kanu and IPoB, which has led to the loss of countless lives, including his parents, must cease. We do not seek to humiliate any party but to affirm that IPoB’s mission is rooted in the pursuit of dignity, freedom, and a better life for Biafrans, the black race, and Africa as a whole.”
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