The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Friday, declined to strike out a seven-court terrorism charge that the Inspector General of Police filed against five loyalists of Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State.
The defendants; Chime Eguma Ezebalike, Prince Lukman Oladele, Kenneth Goodluck Kpasa, Osiga Donald and Ochueja Thankgod, were on January 25, remanded at the Kuje prison in Abuja over an allegation that they were complicit in the invasion, vandalisation and burning down of the Rivers State House of Assembly complex.
Police alleged that the defendants had in the wake of the political crisis that rocked the state in October last year, invaded the House of Assembly complex in a bid to frustrate an attempt to impeach the governor.
They were in the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/25/2024, equally accused of killing a Superintendent of Police, SP, Bako Agbashim and other five police informants at Ahoada community I Rivers State.
Names of three police informants that were allegedly killed by the defendants, were given as; Charles Osu, Ogbonna Eja, Idaowuka Felix, Paul Victor Chibuogu and Saturday Edi.
The prosecution equally accused the defendants of using various cult groups, namely; Supreme Vikings Confraternity, Degbam, Iceland and Greenland, to unleash mayhem on the people of the state and their commercial activities.
However, at the resumed proceeding in the matter on Friday, two of the defendants, Ezebalike and Oladele, challenged the competence of the charge, insisting that the IGP lacked the locus standi to institute the action.
They urged the court to strike out the charge for constituting an abuse of the judicial process.
According to them, under sections 3 and 74 of the Terrorism Prevention & Prohibition Act, TPPA, 2022, only the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, was empowered to institute such action against anyone.
They contended that security agencies like the police would only be responsible for the gathering of intelligence and investigation of such related cases.
It was the position of the defendants that since the charge lacked competence, it stripped the court of the requisite jurisdiction to try them.
While dismissing the preliminary objection on Friday, Justice Bolaji Olajuwodn held that in view of the provisions of section 174 of the TPPA 2022, the power to institute a criminal proceeding was not exclusively vested on the AGF.
The court held that the charge was competent, adding that the police has the statutory powers to prosecute the defendants.
Therefore, it dismissed the objections as lacking in merit.
Justice Olajuwon said she would on Monday, rule on applications the defendants filed to be released on bail, pending the determination of the charge against them.
Police had through its lawyer, Mr. Simon Lough, SAN, urged the court to deny them bail, saying they failed to establish any exceptional circumstance that would warrant their release from prison custody.
Rather, the police lawyer prayed the court to order an accelerated hearing of the case.
Meanwhile, earlier in the proceeding, the court struck out an application the former factional Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon. Edison Ehie, filed for the charge to be struck out.
Ehie, who is currently the Chief of Staff to governor Fubara, was mentioned in some counts in the charge.
Police had told the court that he was at large.
When the matter came up on Friday, Ehie, who had already been declared wanted by another judge of the court, through his lawyer, Mr. Oluwole Aladedoye, SAN, prayed the court to strike out any part of the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/25/2024, where his name was mentioned.
Justice Olajuwon refused the prayer on the premise that he was not a proper party before the court since he was not listed as one of the defendants in the case.
