The Federal Government has told the Federal High Court in Abuja that the threat by Biafra nation agitator, Nnamdi Kanu, to break up the country and establish a Republic of Biafra was not a mere empty threat but a deliberate one.
The government said that the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) made a broadcast on Biafra Radio Station where he openly and publicly declared his intention to break up Nigeria.
Responding to a no-case application made by Kanu on Friday, the Federal Government’s lawyer, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, said that the broadcast by Kanu caused Nigerians to live in great fear.
The senior lawyer told Justice James Omotosho to reject the claims of Kanu that he had no case to answer in the seven-count terrorism charges brought against him by the Federal Government.
Awomolo argued that boasting to break up Nigeria is a fundamental security issue for the nation and, as such, should not be considered an empty threat as claimed by Kanu.
The government lawyer informed the court that Kanu, in the broadcast, directed his followers to go after policemen and kill them along with their families, adding that over 170 security agents were killed shortly after the broadcast.
“The defendant made a broadcast. He proudly declared himself as IPOB leader even when he knew that IPOB had been proscribed. He made a broadcast that the world will come to a standstill.
“The law of Nigeria prohibits words capable of making Nigerians live in perpetual fear, threatening to bring Nigeria down. The aim is to create Biafra and not mere boasting, and there are consequences for such boasting.”;
Awomolo pleaded with the judge to reject the no-case argument of Kanu and order him to enter his defence in the charges against him, adding that the no-case application was a misplaced and misconceived one.
However, Kanu, through his lead counsel, Chief Kanu Agabi, SAN, faulted the prosecution of his client on the charges and asked the court to discharge and acquit him.
Among other arguments, Agabi, SAN, said that throughout the proceedings, no single witness was called to tell the court how he was incited by Kanu to resort to violence.
He also informed the court that the five witnesses called during the trial, who are operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), admitted that their roles were limited to obtaining statements from Kanu.
Agabi argued that no investigation whatsoever was carried out on Kanu’s statements and no report of any investigation on terrorism allegations was made available to the court.
The senior lawyer drew the attention of the court to the fact that the charges against Kanu were amended eight times, yet no one came to testify that he was instigated to violence.
Insisting that Kanu was only asking people to defend themselves from the wanton killings, Agabi argued that the threat to bring the world down by Kanu was mere boasting and should not be used against him to justify terrorism offences.
He said that asking Nigerians to defend themselves is a constitutional right and has been re-echoed by other Nigerians, including General T. Y. Danjuma (rtd).
Agabi also faulted the solitary confinement of Kanu over the last 10 years, in violation of international law that states solitary confinement must not last more than 15 days.
Insisting that the ingredients of terrorism charges were not established throughout the trial, Agabi, SAN, pleaded with the judge to hold that no prima facie case was made against Kanu to warrant ordering him to enter defence on the charges.
Justice Omotosho, after taking arguments for and against the no-case application, fixed October 10 for ruling.
