…Arrested, arraigned, remanded in prison
For failing to abide by the warning of the Enugu Police Command not to protest in Enugu State for the release of their leader, Nnamdi Kanu, eight members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have landed into trouble.
The Enugu State Command through its Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr Ebere Amaraizu, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), had on Sunday warned sternly the IPOB members planning to go on peaceful protest in the state to shelve their action, but they refused.
The eight members of IPOB were arrested by the police in Enugu last Monday as they were allegedly marching on the streets of Enugu in protest of the continued detention of their leader by the Department of State Service (DSS) in Abuja despite the warning by the Enugu State Police Command.
The PPRO who disclosed the arrest and trial of the IPOB members in a statement obtained by Daily Sun said the IPOB members who have been remanded in prison custody after they were arraigned at an Enugu Magistrate Court flouted the police order.
His words: “In spite of the warning by the Enugu state police command following intelligence information, for any person agitating the prosecution of Nnamdi Kalu at a court in Abuja, some misguided fellows in their numbers assembled at Naira Triangle Enugu on Monday 18th January, 2016, bearing flags and other materials designating Biafra.”
He said the actions of the IPOB members attracted the attention of the officers and men of the command who first ordered them to disperse but they refused.
According to Amaraizu, the recalcitrance of the IPOB members made the police to arrest some of them while the others fled.
“The arrested persons include Nwangwu Friday (m) of 26 years, Chekwube Eneta (m), 28 years, Chigozie Mba, 29 years, Isaiah Ogazi (m), 28 years, Onyekachukwu Uzoma, 43 years, Onyemalu Princewill (m), 26 years, Israel Ani, 18 years and Ugwuobu Kelechi, 24 years,” he said.
He also disclosed that the police preliminary investigations revealed that many of the IPOB members were from other states but were hired to be in Enugu for the unlawful assembly and procession.
After they were apprehended, he said that the command promptly charged the suspects to Magistrate Court 111, Enugu East, in Charge Number CME 121C/2016 on 19/1/16 for the alleged offences mentioned.
However, when the case was called up and the charges read out to the accused persons, they all pleaded not guilty and were remanded in prison custody while the case was adjourned till February 10.
Amaraizu warned that the command would not leave any stone unturned in ensuring that Enugu State remained peaceful.