Members of the family of embattled leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mr. Nnamdi Kanu, his lawyer and men of the Department of the State Services (DSS) clashed yesterday at the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja. Kanu and two others – Benjamin Maudubugwu and David Nwawuisi – are standing trial before the court over alleged treason and maintaining unlawful society, among others. At the resumed trial yesterday, there was an altercation between some members of Kanu’s family and the DSS within the premises of the court.
The DSS had stopped some members of Kanu’s family from gaining entrance into the courtroom. This, however, provoked exchange of words, with the family members shouting at the top of the voices, a situation which drew the attention of several people in the court. Reporting the incidence to the trial judge, prosecution counsel, Mohammed Diri, noted that Kanu and his family have constituted a threat to the prosecution and its witnesses.
He, however, prayed the court to adjourn the matter till such a time when the witnesses will be granted the needed protection to help them confidently testify in court. However, lead counsel to Kanu, Chuks Muoma, urged the court to allow the lawyer who was involved in the altercation to state his own side of the report.
Reporting his own side, a lawyer in the team of Kanu, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, accused the DSS of threatening to kill him. Ejiofor further informed the court that he had gone to intervene in the exchange of words between some supporters of Kanu and the DSS.
He added that on discovery that the DSS was preventing some members of Kanu’s family from entering the court, he (Ejiofor) informed the DSS that the court had given an order that the public should be allowed to witness the trial. ”
It was after I said that, when a staff of the DSS threatened to kill me,” he added. He, therefore, prayed the court to take note of the threat. “My lord, I will like you to take note of this threat to my life, because I don’t know what will happen tomorrow,” said Ejiofor.
The trial judge, Justice James Tsoho, who noted that events were taking a different turn from what was expected, took note of the threat to Ejiofor’s life. In a short ruling, the court also granted the request of the prosecution as to the protection of the witnesses.
The court held that the witnesses would be allowed to stand behind a witness screen while testifying. The court dismissed the objection of the defendant. Muoma had earlier raised an objection that the request by the Federal Government for its witnesses to testify behind a witness screen amounted to revisiting the earlier ruling of the court. Justice Tsoho, however, said that his new order did not amount to revisiting his earlier ruling prohibiting the prosecution witnesses from wearing masks.
He held that the screen would only shield the witnesses from the members of the public present in court. He further held that the use of the screen would not prevent the judge, the accused persons and lawyers to the parties to see the witnesses while testifying.
The court also dismissed the request by Kanu’s counsel that the court should discharge and acquit its witnesses because the prosecution failed to produce its witnesses to enable the trial to commence on Monday.
The judge ruled that the provision of section 351(1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 relied on by the defence to ask for the quashing of the charges, did not apply to the circumstances of the case.
According to the judge, the court can only dismiss the charges against an accused person who is present in court when the complainant in the case is not represented in court. The court later adjourned till March 9 for trial.
