Justice James Omotosho of a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja l, has heard how between 170 and 200 security agents in the South East lost their lives due to the activities of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN).
The court was also told that the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) did not issue a license to detained self-acclaimed IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu to import the radio transmitter he allegedly smuggled into the country to operate Radio Biafra.
On Wednesday, during the continuation of his trial in court, a Department of State Services (DSS) official testified as the fourth prosecution witness.
The witness, led in evidence by prosecuting lawyer Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), told the court that one ESN member he identified as Uzuoma Benjamin, aka Onye Army, spoke about how they allegedly received directives from Kanu to kill security agents and ensure that a deceased member of the group, Ikonso, was buried with 2000 human heads.
The DSS official said further investigation revealed that of the 2000 human heads sought to bury Ikonso, only 30 were eventually sourced.
He also gave details of how the late former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Ahmed Gulak, was killed on May 30, 2021, in Owerri, Imo State.
The witness also read where the said Onye Army claimed that he and other members of his group used the heads of 10 girls to prepare charms for their protection.
He said investigation revealed that Kanu directed the invasion of Owerri prison by IPOB members in one of his broadcasts for his followers to attack and kill security operatives of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The witness said shortly after he and his team members recovered the transmitter from a premises in Ubuluisiuzor, Anambra State, and brought it to Abuja, the DSS wrote to the NBC to inspect it.
The witness told the court that on November 9, 2015, NBC sent an Engineer who inspected the transmitter and wrote a report.
Awomolo then tendered a certified true copy of the provisional assessment of the radio transmitter report submitted by the NBC.
The witness was asked to read a portion of the report, which he did. He said the report indicated that the transmitter was German-made and that it was indeed a radio transmitter made for use on the FM frequency.
The witness said the report also stated that such a transmitter could only be procured and installed after a licence was issued and that the NBC has not licensed Radio Biafra to broadcast in Nigeria.
The DSS official added that his team’s investigation revealed that to operate a radio station in the country, one must apply to a regulator, who will issue a licence after due clearance by relevant security agencies.
The witness said, “In this case (Kanu’s case), there was no application from the defendant; he brought the transmitter in illegally without approval.”
He also said the investigation confirmed that the defendant is the owner of the transmitter, which he kept in the premises of Benjamin Madubugu.
The witness said Kanu later came into the country, inspected the transmitter, and made a video to satisfy members of the IPOB, who contributed money for its purchase.
He also read from some publications of the Vanguard newspaper, where it was reported that an arrested commander of ESN confessed to his group’s activities.
He said that when the DSS requested from the police to access Onye Army, the police claimed he had escaped from custody.
He said during one of DSS’ agents’ raids of ESN members’ hideout, “we saw some ESN members, about seven, with human heads and some eating human flesh, which they said was for spiritual fortification.
“We could not find Onye Army. The police said he had escaped from custody.”
He said there are records about the number of security agents allegedly killed in the South East and that the number stands between 170 and 200.
The witness who said two DSS officials, including his driver, were among the victims, said the cut across all security agencies.
On how the ESN members operate, the witness said they are combatants, who carry arms and attack the homes of prominent individuals and traditional rulers in the region
He said that because they lacked sufficient operational tools, they sometimes set up roadblocks during which they hijacked vehicles for their operation.
The witness identified some public property which he said IPOB and ESN members attacked and destroyed in the South East, including police stations.
On how Gulak died, the witness said he was among the first responders to the scene where the late chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was killed and his corpse recovered.
He said that on May 30, 2021, there was a total breakdown of law and order as a result of the stay-at-home order declared by the defendant through one of his broadcasts.
The witness said later that day, one of his officers informed him that a prominent politician was killed around Obiagwu and that when they got to the spot, they saw what happened.
He said the divisional police officer (DPO) in the area told him that Gulak was in a hired cab when he was killed by some members of IPOB.
The witness said the driver told him that they were heading to the airport from Owerri town when they saw a checkpoint mounted by men of the Nigerian Air Force, who were preventing people from accessing the airport. They decided to take another route, where they ran into a checkpoint by IPOB members.
He added that the driver further said the IPOB members ordered the three of them in the car to disembark, and demanded to know their tribes.
He said the driver told him he introduced himself as an Igbo person, and that Gulak also said he was an Igbo man. But while he (the driver) could speak the Igbo language when they were asked to speak in Igbo, Gulak could not. Following this, they asked him to remove his cap and saw a Muslim prayer mark on his forehead.
The witness said the driver added that upon seeing the prayer mark, one of the IPOB members said “he is one of them,” following which they shot and killed him.
The DSS official, who said he served in Imo State between 2019 and 2023, told the court that the deceased’s corpse was evacuated from the spot where he was killed in his (the witness’s) car.
Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), the witness said there is no record of the importation of the transmitter Kanu is said to have smuggled into the country.
He could not say when the transmitter was brought into the country, but he was among those who located where it was kept in Anambra State and brought it to the DSS headquarters in Abuja.
The witness explained how they were able to locate the transmitter. His team used equipment to analyse a video (showing Kanu inspecting the transmitter) to ascertain its location in Anambra.
He said he had not encountered the names Benka Clearing and Forwarding and Chief Isaac Maduka during his investigation and was unaware that Benka had cleared the transmitter, as Ikpeazu claimed.
When asked if he was aware that Radio Biafra was registered in London and broadcast from there, the witness said that when Kanu was arrested in Lagos in 2016, he was arrested with his broadcast equipment.
He said he was not present when the defendant was arrested in Lagos and that all he said about his arrest in Lagos was what was relayed to him.
The witness said the two guns he found were not recovered in the container in which the transmitter was kept, but under Benjamin Madubugu’s mattress, who lived on the premises. He added that Madubugu was later charged with unlawful possession of firearms.
The witness said the container was brought into the country by one Igwe Anyiba, who was later found to be living outside the country.
The witness said he was not aware that the Imo State government issued a statement to the effect that Gulak’s killing was political.
At the conclusion of the cross-examination, the court discharged the witness, following which the judge, Justice James Omotosho, adjourned the hearing until Thursday for the prosecution to call its fifth witness.
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