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The Trial of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, resumed before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday with the Department of State Services, DSS, alleging that he was responsible for widespread violence in the South East region of the country.
The security agency, through one of its operatives who testified as the fourth prosecution witness, PW-4, in the seven-count terrorism and treasonable felony charge the Federal Government preferred against Kanu, insisted that the defendant incited violence through various broadcasts he made on Radio Biafra.
The witness, whose real name was shielded as he was only identified as PW-DDD, testified behind a protective shield.
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He told the court that Kanu had in his “illegal radio broadcasts,” directed his followers to deal decisively with some targeted persons that included security agents.
He alleged that in furtherance of the directive, between 170 and 200 security operatives were killed in the South East.
Led in evidence by FG’s lawyer, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, the witness added that the defendant was responsible for the murder of a former presidential aide, Ahmed Gulak, by the IPOB which he said heeded to his order.
Giving an account of what transpired on the day Gulak who was a former aide to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, was killed on May 30, 2021 in Owerri Imo State, the witness, said he was among the first set of security agents that arrived the scene of the incident.
He told the court that he served In Imo State between 2019 and 2023, adding that it was his car that was used to evacuate Gulak’s corpse.
According to him, on that fateful day, there was a total breakdown of law and order as a result of a stay-at-home the defendant declared in one of his broadcasts.
He told the court that later that day, his colleagues informed him that a prominent politician was killed around Obiagwu, an information that led his team to rush to the spot.
The witness said the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, in the area told him that Gulak was in a hired cab when he was killed by some IPOB members.
He said the driver of the cab 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.
He said the development forced the driver to take an alternative route that took them into another checkpoint that was mounted by IPOB members.
The witness said the driver revealed that the IPOB members ordered the three of them in the car to disembark, and demanded to know their tribes.
He said both the driver and Gulak introduced themselves as Igbo men.
However, upon a command by the IPOB members, while the driver spoke the Igbo language, Gulak was not able to speak.
He said it was at that point that the assailants asked Gulak to remove his cap, following which they saw a Muslim prayer mark on his forehead.
He said immediately the IPOB members saw the prayer mark, one of them shouted: “he is one of them!” and shot him dead.
The witness further told the court that Kanu illegally smuggled radio transmitter into the country and hid it at Ubuluisiuzor, Anambra State, in the premises of one Benjamin Madubugu.
He said a team of Engineers from the NBC were on November 9, 2015, sent to inspect the transmitter and wrote a report, after which it was moved to Abuja.
A certified true copy of the provisional assessment of the radio transmitter report submitted by the NBC, was tendered in evidence before the court.
Meanwhile, the witness read from some publications of the Vanguard Newspaper, where it was reported that an arrested commander of the Eastern Security Network, ESN, the alleged armed wing of the IPOB, confessed to the activities of his group.
He said the ESN member identified as Uzuoma Benjamin, a.k.a Onye Army, disclosed that Kanu have a directive that a deceased member of the group, Ikonso, should be buried with 2000 human heads.
The witness also read where the said Onye Army claimed that his group used heads of 10 girls to prepare charms for their protection.
He said investigation revealed that the invasion of Owerri prison by IPOB members was directed by Kanu in one of his broadcast for his followers to attack and kill security operatives of the Fedaral Government of Nigeria.
He said police later told the DSS that Onye Army escaped from its custody.
Continuing, the witness told the court that when the DSS raided ESN hideout, “we saw some ESN members, about seven, with human heads and some eating human flesh, which they said was for spiritual fortification.”
On how the ESN members operate, the witness described them as combatants who carry arms and attacked homes of prominent individuals and traditional rulers in the region.
The witness identified some public property which he said IPOB and ESN members attacked and destroyed in the South East, including police stations.
Under cross-examination, the witness said he was not aware that the radio transmitter was legitimately brought into the country through a clearing agency.
He insisted that there was no evidence that the embattled IPOB secured licence to operate a radio station in the country.
Justice James Omotosho adjourned further hearing in the matter till Thursday.
