Leader of Movement for the Actualistion of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike and 281 of his followers who were arrested by the police on Wednesday, were yesterday remanded at the Enugu Prisons on the orders of a magistrate court in the state.

Uwazuruike was detained late Wednesday when he went to question the arrest of his members earlier picked up by the police who stormed the Presidential Hotel venue where Igbo youths converged to honour Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and other prominent Igbo leaders.

The MASSOB leader and his men who were dressed in blue Biafra uniform with rising sun badge were arraigned in an open space inside the Enugu Magistrate Court premises where they were kept standing under the sun for more than four hours.

They were charged with conspiracy to commit felony and attempt to use an illegal organisation to take over the government of Enugu State and other South-eastern states in pursuant to a Sovereign State of Biafra.
Counsel for the accused persons, Chika Eze who held brief for C.O.C Obiekwe made application for bail on the grounds that all the four count charges brought against the accused persons were all bailable offences as none of them attracts death penalty.

He cited Section 118 of the Criminal Procedure Act arguing that the court may grant bail and urged the court to exercise that discretion by granting bail since there were no threat of the accused persons jumping bail.
Police Prosecutor, Damian Njoku Umeh, however, opposed the application and urged the court to discountenance the submissions of the defense counsel since it had no jurisdiction to handle the matter and to remand them in prison custody.

The presiding Magistrate, Dennis Ekoh granted the request of the prosecution and ordered that they be remanded while the case file was moved to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) for legal advice.
Immediately the pronouncement was made, Uwazuruike ordered his members to “clap for them” and they responded with a thunderous clap in the court which sat outside because of the number of accused persons. Afterwards, he told newsmen: “They are making a mockery of justice, there is no justice in whatever they are doing here and that is why we want to leave Nigeria because there is nothing like justice in Nigeria. I don’t care whether it is magistrate or presidential or high court.

“For most of them there, I was called to bar even before they went to Law School. So I know what law is all about; they cannot stand on my way to justice; at the end of the day I will come out because I have not committed any offence. He urged his members to be strong and courageous: “You can see they are afraid of you; so be strong.”

Also reacting, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh expressed shock at the turn of events stating that he expected them to be released since there was no threat to peace by the accused persons and when they were not arrested with any weapon. He warned that the Nigerian government was playing with the personal liberty of innocent citizens in the country, saying, “MASSOB is known to be leading a non-violent agitation for the emancipation of Igbo people in Nigeria; their struggle is for justice to be given to Igbo people of Nigeria.

“They’ve done that without killing or breaching public peace yet the Nigerian government is ready to dialogue with the Boko Haram sect that is killing Nigerians everyday; the government is negotiating with people who are committing murder everyday. “When the youths of the Niger Delta carried sophisticated arms, the government of Nigeria negotiated with them and granted them amnesty and invested billions of naira into their welfare but the Igbo’s have been selected for no justice in Nigeria.

“Let me warn the government of Nigeria that the levity with which they treat those who are pursing their rights without violence would provoke those people to carry arms; if it’s only those who kill that the government would look into their protest, then what they are saying is that non-violent protest is of no use and that is unfortunate.”

He urged the attorney-general of Enugu State “to do everything to see that the matter moved to high court today otherwise we shall count him among the enemies of Igbo’s.”

Source : http://sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2011/aug/26/national-26-08-2011-013.html

Is this justified? Is this what "good governance" is all about? In the west, the OPC sect has become more or less a formidable force protecting the interest of the Odua people. In the Niger Delta, the militants got a full pardon (amnesty) plus compensation worth billions of naira after all the violence and bloodletting. The Boko Haram sect has killed thousands this year alone and our government seeks to "negotiate" terms of peace with them. But when it comes to the peaceful MASSOB, what do we see? They are arrested at random and incarcerated in prison for the flimsiest excuses. I wonder what kind of message this government is sending across to it's citizens coz it's obvious they don't regard the option of dialogue until total anarchy sets in. Like someone said to me a long time ago : "The only language Nigerians understand is brute force".

How sad!