Thirty-two pro-Biafra agitators were on Thursday remanded in prison custody by an Enugu magistrate court.
The activists were members of the Biafra Independence Movement faction of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra.
They were arrested on May 22 while trying to stage a parade to mark the ‘Biafra Day’ in Enugu metropolis.
The activists had converged on Afia Nine, in the Obiagu area of Enugu, from where they planned to march through the city, when the police rounded them up.
BIM, led by former MASSOB leader, Ralph Uwazuruike, had designated May 22 as ‘Biafran Day’, even though other pro-Biafra groups, including MASSOB and the Indigenous People of Biafra, celebrate the anniversary of the defunct Republic of Biafra on May 30, the date the breakaway state declared independence from Nigeria in 1967.
The 32 arrested agitators, comprising 30 males and two females, were arraigned for flouting the provisions of section 41(a)(b) of the Criminal Code CAP C38, Laws of Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
The magistrate, S. Okoro, of the Enugu North Magistrate Court, remanded the secessionists in prison custody after the arraignment.
The spokesman, Enugu State Police Command, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, later disclosed that their case file had been referred to the Enugu State Director of Public Prosecutions for further advice.
Meanwhile, no fewer than eight suspected members of MASSOB were on Thursday arraigned at the Chief Magistrate Court in Port Harcourt by the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Zaki Ahmed.
The pro-Biafra agitators were said to have been arrested on Wednesday while they were protesting.
The accused persons, identified as Okorie Prince Chukwuma (32), Ifeanyi Nwankwo (27), Kanayo Frank (41), Ndifereke Joshua (33), Christian Uzor (22), Nwchukwu Ogbonna (32), Oforbuike Ogbonnaya (25) and Sunny Ita Udofia, are facing two counts of treason in suit number PMC/1082c/2018.
They were said to have been apprehended on East-West road axis of Port Harcourt while chanting war songs.
However, the trial Chief Magistrate, Sokari Andrew-Jaja, said the court had no jurisdiction to handle the matter and immediately instructed that the case file be transferred to the Director of Public Prosecutions for legal advice.
He explained that the offence reportedly committed by the suspects could attract death sentence if they were found guilty.
Andrew-Jaja adjourned the matter till June 21, 2018, for the advice of the DPP.
The accused persons were, however, remanded in prison custody till the adjourned date.
In his remarks after the court session, a human rights lawyer, who represented the accused persons in court, Nneka Aneke, explained that the accused persons only embarked on a peaceful rally, adding that they were wrongly arrested.
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