Court Remands 30 IPOB Members In Prison Custody

30 IPOB members has been remanded in prison custody by a chief magistrate’s court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, .

The 30 IPOB members were remanded in prison custody over alleged involvement in the crisis that rocked Oyigbo area of the state on Tuesday and Wednesday. 

The suspects were arrested by the Police Command in the course of the incident in which two persons died, a police Sergeant, Mr. Steven Daniel was killed and his rifle taken away and several property damaged. 

Nine of the suspects were accused of killing Daniel, while the others are facing trial for causing unrest and other criminal acts. In two separate charge sheets, PMC/1936c/2017 and PMC/1935c/2017, the accused persons were charged with treason, murder, armed robbery, felony, unlawful assembly, unlawful protest and other sundry crimes. 

When the matter came up in court, the charges were not read to the accused persons and pleas were not taken because the court declined jurisdiction to entertain it. However, presiding chief magistrate, Amadi O. Amadi-Nna ordered the court registrar to remit the case file to the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, for legal advice and adjourned sine die. 

The defence, Donald Loho, had urged the court to return the case file to the chief judge of the state high court to interpret and assign the matter to an appropriate court that has jurisdiction. 

Speaking outside the court room with journalists, the Prosecution Counsel, SP Enoch George, said: “We came here for remand and proceedings. Naturally, the defendants have their lawyers and they also raised legal issues that the court does not have jurisdiction and that the court should strike out the charges and discharge them. 

But we the prosecutors decided that the charge for which they were brought to court is very heavy and weighty. “Some of the accused persons were charged under Section 319 of the Code of Criminal Justice Law in Rivers State, which is murder, some were charged under Section 69, 70 which is unlawful assembly, procession and others and some of them were charged for treasonable felony.” 

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