The Eze Ndigbo of Ajao Estate, Lagos, Frederick Nwajagu, has told Justice Yetunde Adesanya of the state High Court sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square that he has no link with the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
Nwajagu, who is standing trial before the court over an allegation of terrorism, told the court that his threat to bring the banned organisation to protect the lives and Properties of Igbo people in Lagos was an empty one.
The 67-year-old self-acclaimed Eze Ndigbo was arrested on April 1, 2023, by the Department of State Services (DSS) over an alleged threat to invite members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to Lagos to secure properties of Igbo people in the state.
On May 9, the then Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Moyo Onigbanjo (SAN), had arraigned the defendant on a nine-count charge of attempting to commit acts of terrorism.
The defendant was accused of attempting to carry out acts of terrorism under Section 403(2) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015; participation in a terrorism meeting to support a criminal entity, attempt to finance an act of terrorism and preparation to commit an act of terrorism under sections 12(c), 18, 21, 29 & 12(a) of the Terrorism (Prevention & Prohibition) Act, 2022,” amongst others.
The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge. Still, the court rejected his attempt to secure bail on the grounds of the seriousness of the alleged offence and the severity of its punishment.
While testifying in his own defence, the defendant told the judge that he was not aware that there was a law in Nigeria prohibiting a person from mentioning the name of IPOB.
He also denied ever referring to himself as a king in Lagos but as a leader of the Igbo-speaking people in Ajao Estate.
The defendant testified that the leaked video that was tendered as evidence and played in court, where he was speaking to a group of people in his house, was not the original but an edited one.
He said, “After the 2023 election, some people came to my house. I gave them drinks, and I made the statement because I believed there is freedom of speech and association in Nigeria.
“I have no connection with IPOB,” he said.
Nwajagu, however, said that what he said in his house was an empty threat to calm the Igbos down.
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