From Geoffrey Anyanwu, Awka

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), yesterday, asked Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja to dismiss four out of the five remaining charges against its leader, Nnamdi Kanu and three others standing trial.

In a reaction to Wednesday’s ruling of the judge in which she dismissed six out of the 11 count-charge against the IPOB leader and three others, the group said the court should dismiss counts one, two, four and eight, as it was ready for full trial on only count six.

In a statement signed by its spokespersons, Emma Nmezu and Dr. Clifford Iroanya, the group demanded that the four charges be dismissed on grounds of fraud/perjury, false claim/identity and for conflicts with relevant sections of Cap-C38 and Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.

IPOB insisted that counts one, two and eight must be dismissed because the charges do not conform with Section-196(1) and Second Schedule of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act of 2015 (ACJA-2015). He stressed that the cited section and schedule in the ACJA require that every charge must include the date, year and location of the commission of the offence for which the accused was being charged.

The statement read: “When it comes to the specificity of time of the commission of an offence, there is no provision for the term “Diverse Dates“ either in Section-196(1) or in Second Schedule of ACJA-2015.

“Secondly, Section-43 of Cap-C38 requires that an accused person is no longer triable for treason and related felonies after two years from the stated date of commission of the offence. It is because of this same Section-43 that, today, Muhammadu Buhari is not being tried for treason which he committed on December 31, 1983.

“Without a specific date of commission of the offence, how then can the prosecution prove that two years have not elapsed as at the time of commencement of this case in Binta’s court? In addition to dismissing these three counts, we urge Justice Binta Murtala–Nyako to indict, convict and jail the prosecution for committing a crime punishable under Section-118 of Cap-C38.

“On May 29, 2015, (retd) Major General Muhammadu Buhari was sworn-in as the President of Nigeria which includes the occupied territories of Biafraland. Count four stated that Buhari, as the President of Nigeria, was defamed by Kanu on April 28, 2015. This is not only a false claim on the status of Buhari as at April 28, 2015, it is also a case of perjury and the prosecution must be indicted and convicted of committing a crime as specified in Section-117 of Cap-C38. We also categorically state that Kanu could not have referred to Buhari as the President of Nigeria as at April 28, 2015.

“We warn Justice Murtala-Nyako that, should she refuse to dismiss count four, we shall base our argument for the continuation of the charge on Section-379(5) of Cap-C38. The court must grant us our rights to subpoena, everyone that will be linked to the charge in line with our argument.”

IPOB reiterated that its demand that Justice Murtala-Nyako dismisses four out of the five remaining charges was based on the fact that they were based on fraud, false claims, and were in conflict with the relevant sections of Cap-C38 and ACJA-2015.

While also demanding that the prosecution be tried and convicted on Section-117 of Cap-C38, IPOB warned, “failing to dismiss these four charges will spell doom for the Judiciary in Nigeria. The facts and evidence in our possession are overwhelming and may not be palatable to Justice Murtala-Nyako, the prosecution and the government.”