A magistrate court in Kuje, Abuja, on Tuesday, remanded Indigenous People of Biafra (IOPB) leader Nnamdi Kanu’s lawyer and brother alongside 10 others in the custody of Kuje prison for alleged breach of public peace and other charges.
Mr Kanu’s lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, announced his remand on X (formerly Twitter) following his arraignment by the police alongside his co-defendants before the court on Tuesday.
“The Magistrate refused to listen to our submissions,” Mr Ejimakor wrote on the microblogging site, adding, “He insisted on remanding us till Friday and got his way. For context: Keep in mind that they bypassed several Magistrate courts in town and headed to this one in Kuje.”
The magistrate ordered him and others remanded at Kuje correctional centre in Abuja on Tuesday after a night in police custody.
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Mr Ejimakor and other defendants were arrested by the police during Monday’s #FreeNnamdiKanuNow protest around the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in the Maitama District of Abuja.
The demonstrators, led by human rights activist Omoyele Sowore, took to the streets on Monday to demand an unconditional release of detained Mr Kanu, who is standing trial on terrorism charges over his secessionist campaign for the independence of Nigeria’s South-east region as a sovereign Biafra state.
The police arraigned Mr Ejimakor alongside Mr Kanu’s brother, Emmanuel Kanu, and 10 others for criminal conspiracy, disobedience of a lawful order and inciting disturbance of public peace during the protest.
Other defendants similarly ordered by the magistrate to be remanded in prison are Joshua Emmanuel, Bishop Anyalewechi, Okere Kingdom (an Abuja-based lawyer), Clinton Chimenze, Gabriel Joshua, Isiaka Husseini, Onyekachi Ferdinand, Amadi Prince, Edison Ojisom and Godwill Obiama.
According to the charge contained in a first information report shared on Mr Sowore’s Facebook page, the group allegedly incited “disturbance, and breach of public peace in disobedience to a court Order, denying other citizens the freedom of movement, disrupting free flow of traffic while chanting war songs and requesting for the release of Nnamdi Kanu who is undergoing lawful trial at the Federal High Court in a manner that threatens National Security.”
Mr Sowore said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that lawyers filed a bail application for Mr Ejimakor and Mr Kanu’s brother, Emmanuel, at the Federal High Court in Abuja, but that the police refused to accept service of the application.
Earlier on Friday, the Federal High Court in Abuja approved the protest in a ruling on an ex parte motion filed by the Nigeria police.
However, the court barred the protesters from sensitive government areas, including Aso Rock Villa, the National Assembly, Force Headquarters, Court of Appeal, Eagle Square, and Shehu Shagari Way.
The police explained that they arrested the defendants because they were protesting on Shehu Shagari Way, which is one of the areas the court had prohibited demonstrations from taking place.
But the protesters insisted they were never served the court order up till when the protest started at about 7 a.m. on Monday.
Since 2021, Mr Kanu has been in detention after he was arrested in Kenya and brought back to Nigeria to continue facing his terrorism trial, which dates back to 2015.
The Nigerian government accused the IPOB leader, who is agitating for an independent Biafra, of inciting violence and killings in the South-east to actualise the independence of the region along with parts of the neighbouring states as a sovereign nation.
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Amid growing calls for Mr Kanu’s release, Mr Sowore, about two weeks ago, began mobilising for a nationwide protest to put pressure on the federal government to free the IPOB leader. But the protest only took a significant hold in Abuja.
Police crackdown
Around 8:00 a.m. on Monday, the police fired teargas at the protesters who started their march from the Transcorp Hilton Hotel.
While the demonstrators tried to regroup, the police again dispersed them. This prompted their convergence at multiple locations, including Utako and Jabi where the police again fired teargas, disrupting business activities in the neighbourhood.
The protest subsequently continued at Apo down to the Gudu area of Abuja before Mr Sowore finally led a few remaining protesters to the FCT Police Command in an attempt to secure the release of the arrested protesters.
