Detained IPOB members to know fate April 25

A Magistrate Court sitting in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital yesterday fixed April 25, 2017, for ruling on the three count charges of conspiracy, breach of public peace and unlawful gathering filed against 44 members of the Indigenous Peoples ‎of Biafra (IPOB).

The detained members of the IPOB were arrested in October, 2016 while meeting in Yenagoa by men of the Joint Military Task Force code named Operation Delta Safe. They were handed over to the Police for prosecution.

During yesterday’s hearing at Magistrate Court 5, the Counsel to the arrested IPOB members, Barrister Kingsley Nwosu presented a no-case submission before the court, describing the arrest and trial of the IPOB members as a deliberate attempt to intimidate and violate the fundamental rights of people to freedom of association.

Nwosu said the Nigeria Police have failed to produce credible witnesses to substantiate the three count charges against the IPOB members.The Presiding Magistrate, Magistrate Umukoro, however adjourned ruling till April 25, 2017.