Forty-four
pro Biafra supporters who were arrested in
connection with a protest by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), in Port
Harcourt have been remanded in prison by a Magistrate Court in
Rivers state, Daily Post reports.
They
were part of hundreds who marched to show solidarity for the Biafran Radio
Director, Nnamdi Kanu who was arrested by the Department of State
Services when he returned from the United Kingdom on Saturday,
October 17.
Last
week, Biafra supporters staged mass protests in Rivers and
Delta states.They took to the streets of Port Harcourt, waving
Biafra flags and holding placards. Protesters in Delta state
went
to the government house to condemn the arrest and continued detention of Kanu.
Andrew
Jaja, the presiding Magistrate, said the court lacked jurisdiction over the
matter since they were charged for treasonable felony.
He
also said that the the accused could not be granted bail, stressing that
the offence for which they were charged was beyond the magistrate court.
According
to ChannelsTV , Jaja said: “Section 118 of the Criminal Procedure Act
provides that persons charged with treason/capital offence cannot be granted
bail by the Magistrate Court, but have the opportunity to be granted bail by
the High Court.”
The
magistrate ordered that copies of the original case file be made and sent to
the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for further investigation and advice.
He
also asked that the accused be remanded in prison custody till Thursday,
November 26.In the same vein, there are speculation that some pro-Biafra activist in
India were moving to confront President Muhammadu Buhari on his
arrival at the Delhi International Airport.
The
Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the diaspora must have hatched a perfect
plot on how to protest at the airport against President Buhari. The
protest is to express their dissatisfaction over the alleged abduction and continued detention of their
leader, Nnamdi Kanu.
On
Monday, October 26, the Punch reported that pro-Biafra activists under the
aegis of IPOB threatened destroy the Nigerian embassy in India, if Kanu was not released
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