From IKENNA EMEWU, Abuja
The Supreme Court has recommended leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, for treason trial. Uwazuruike, alongside six other members of MASSOB, had been pressing appeals to extricate themselves from pending treasonable felony trial, but lost at the final adjudication point yesterday.
The treason charge against them was initiated by the Federal Government in 2005. A five-man panel of the Supreme Court unanimous agreed, in their judgment that the appeal by Uwazurike and others was unmeritorious and designed to defeat the course of justice. The apex court, however, ordered that their trial should be promptly commenced and be conducted with dispatch.
Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour, in the lead judgment, observed that the appeal, filed by Festus Keyamo for the MASSOB members, amounted to “a waste of precious judicial time since all the information imaginable that the appellants would need for their appeal has been available to them before they appealed to the Court of Appeal.” Other MASSOB members affected in the trial include Ambrose Anyaso, Augustine Ihuoma, Chibuike Nwosu, Kelechi Ubabuike, Chimankpa Okorocha and Benedict Alakwem.
The seven MASSOB appellants were first arraigned before a Federal High Court in Abuja on November 8, 2005 on a four-count charge of conspiracy, treason, belonging to a militant group, MASSOB Army, and belonging to an unlawful society, MASSOB. They pleaded not guilty and applied that they be granted bail. Not satisfied, they approached the Court of Appeal, Abuja. The appellate court gave its judgment on May 15, 2008 granting only their prayer for bail.
They headed for the apex court, complaining, among others, that the charges against them were improper because there was no proof of evidence accompanying the charge. Justice Rhodes-Vivour, in his lead judgment, described the suit as frivolous. He held that the accused persons were provided with more information in relation to the charge, more than what they were entitled to under Section 33(1) and (2) of the Federal High Court Act.
He declared: “Though the appellants are not entitled to know the nature of evidence against them, the learned trial judge ordered the nature of evidence (information) served on the appellants, and this was done before their appeal in the Court of Appeal. “The argument that the charge should be dismissed because it was not accompanied by proof of evidence is a mere technicality designed to defeat the course of justice.
“In the light of the fact that the proof of evidence has been filed and is available to the appellants, trial should proceed with dispatch. The result is that the two issues urged in this appeal, on behalf of the appellants, fail and the appeal must fail as there is no merit.”
The Supreme Court has recommended leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, for treason trial. Uwazuruike, alongside six other members of MASSOB, had been pressing appeals to extricate themselves from pending treasonable felony trial, but lost at the final adjudication point yesterday.
The treason charge against them was initiated by the Federal Government in 2005. A five-man panel of the Supreme Court unanimous agreed, in their judgment that the appeal by Uwazurike and others was unmeritorious and designed to defeat the course of justice. The apex court, however, ordered that their trial should be promptly commenced and be conducted with dispatch.
Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour, in the lead judgment, observed that the appeal, filed by Festus Keyamo for the MASSOB members, amounted to “a waste of precious judicial time since all the information imaginable that the appellants would need for their appeal has been available to them before they appealed to the Court of Appeal.” Other MASSOB members affected in the trial include Ambrose Anyaso, Augustine Ihuoma, Chibuike Nwosu, Kelechi Ubabuike, Chimankpa Okorocha and Benedict Alakwem.
The seven MASSOB appellants were first arraigned before a Federal High Court in Abuja on November 8, 2005 on a four-count charge of conspiracy, treason, belonging to a militant group, MASSOB Army, and belonging to an unlawful society, MASSOB. They pleaded not guilty and applied that they be granted bail. Not satisfied, they approached the Court of Appeal, Abuja. The appellate court gave its judgment on May 15, 2008 granting only their prayer for bail.
They headed for the apex court, complaining, among others, that the charges against them were improper because there was no proof of evidence accompanying the charge. Justice Rhodes-Vivour, in his lead judgment, described the suit as frivolous. He held that the accused persons were provided with more information in relation to the charge, more than what they were entitled to under Section 33(1) and (2) of the Federal High Court Act.
He declared: “Though the appellants are not entitled to know the nature of evidence against them, the learned trial judge ordered the nature of evidence (information) served on the appellants, and this was done before their appeal in the Court of Appeal. “The argument that the charge should be dismissed because it was not accompanied by proof of evidence is a mere technicality designed to defeat the course of justice.
“In the light of the fact that the proof of evidence has been filed and is available to the appellants, trial should proceed with dispatch. The result is that the two issues urged in this appeal, on behalf of the appellants, fail and the appeal must fail as there is no merit.”
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