Breaking: Court Discharges 44 IPOB Members

Crowd Jubilating over freed IPOB meembers

A magistrate court sitting at Yenagoa in Bayelsa State has discharged 44  members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
The court under the ruling of the presiding Magistrate dismissed the charges against the 44 men, all members of IPOB.

The men were charged on three counts: conspiracy, breach of public peace and unlawful gathering leveled against them (suspects) by the police.

the magistrate submitted that case leveled against the IPOB  members was "NO CASE" hence the dismissal of the case, with the magistrate pronouncing the judgement of an acquittal to the accused.

The 44 men were arrested by men of the Joint Task Force under the operation tagged "Operation Delta Safe"in Okaka area of Yenagoa while at a meeting in a bar in October 2016.

The men were handed over by the JTF to the Police force for  investigation and prosecution.

The counsel to the accused Mr. Nwosu Kingsley argued a ‘no-case submission’, before the court, describing the arrest and trial of his clients as a deliberate attempt to intimidate and violate the fundamental rights of people to freedom of assembly.

Nwosu who said the  prosecution failed  to provide credible witness to substantiate the three counts against the IPOB members.

Mukoro maintained that the accused persons had no case to answer as the prosecution was unable to establish a prima facie case against them.

Mukoro struck out the case granting the 44 IPOB members freedom.