Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), has urged the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to step aside in the terrorism trial of five loyalists of Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara.
He stated that he would personally take charge of the trial and instructed the IGP to transfer the case file to his office at the Federal Ministry of Justice for a thorough review of the defendants’ indictment.
Fagbemi disclosed this information on Tuesday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, where the five defendants have been on trial for their alleged involvement in the burning of Rivers State House of Assembly and the killing of a Divisional Police Officer DPO.
During the court session before Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon, the AGF’s lawyer, David Kaswe, informed the Court that the trial transition had not been completed as the IGP had not yet complied with the directive to transfer the case file.
An adjournment was requested by Fagbemi to allow the Police Chief to fulfill the order and for him to assess the case file thoroughly to decide on the next steps.
When the IGP’s lawyer, Simon Lough SAN, was questioned by Justice Olajuwon on the delay in transmitting the case file to the AGF, blame was placed on administrative obstacles.
The Judge advised that the directive from the AGF be promptly followed by the IGP.
Subsequently, Justice Olajuwon postponed the continuation of the trial until May 7, 2024.
The Judge ruled that the five defendants be returned to Kuje prison in Abuja to continue their detention.
The previous trial date on Tuesday, March 20, was disrupted due to heavy security accompanying the arrival of Biafra nation agitator, Nnamdi Kanu, at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Access to the Court was hindered for their lawyers by the checkpoints set up by operatives of the Department of State Service, DSS, causing restrictions on movement in that vicinity.
Charged with terrorism offenses by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the five men are Chime Eguma Ezebalike, Prince Lukman Oladele, Kenneth Goodluck Kpasa, Osiga Donald, and Ochueja Thankgod.
The IGP had filed the terrorism charges against them on January 25 for allegedly invading, vandalizing, and setting fire to the Rivers State House of Assembly last year.
They were accused of committing the purported terrorism acts during a period of political unrest that shook Port Harcourt in October of the previous year.
In the charges labeled FHC/ABJ/CR/25/2024, the police alleged that aside from the arson at the State House of Assembly, some of the accused were involved in the killing of a Superintendent of Police, (SP), Bako Agbashim, and five police informants at Ahoada community in the state.
The police informants purportedly killed by the defendants are Charles Osu, Ogbonna Eja, Idaowuka Felix, Paul Victor Chibuogu, and Saturday Edi.
They are also accused of employing various cult groups, including Supreme Viking Confraternity, Degbam, Iceland, and Greenland, to cause chaos among the residents and disrupt commercial activities in the state.
Specifically, it is alleged that on October 29, 2023, at Moscow Road in Port Harcourt, they conspired to engage in acts of terrorism through deliberate destruction of public properties by invading, attacking, and burning the Rivers State House of Assembly, an offense punishable under section 26 of the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act 2022.
Although the defendants have denied the charges, they were remanded to Kuje Prison in Abuja due to the seriousness of the charges against them and their inability to secure bail.
Currently, they are looking to challenge the legitimacy of the terrorism charges and the court’s territorial jurisdiction to hear the case.