In October this year, Mr Kanu was arrested security operatives after arriving from London and his arrest sparked off a series of demonstrations across Igboland as thousands of youths marched calling for his release. Earlier this month, an Abuja Magistrates Court ordered the release of Mr Kanu after the Department of State Services (DSS) decided to drop all three charges it had prepared and levelled against him.
However, Mr Kanu has not been released as expected and in a major twist to the saga, the DSS has filed six fresh charges against him. He has been charged with trying to create a breakaway Biafra Republic with Nigeria’s present south-south, south-east and north central states as component units.
Yesterday, the government slammed the fresh charges against Mr Kanu, filed by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation. These fresh charges were due for mention in court yesterday but were deferred following the absence of the counsel to the federal government.
Count one centred on allegations of treasonable felony, while count two is to do with allegations of maintaining an unlawful society and in count three, Mr Kanu is accused of concealing goods of different descriptions. he has also been charged with making a broadcast on Radio Biafra in which he mentioned plans to get the south-south geo-political zone, the Igala community of Kogi State and the Idoma/Igede community of Benue State to secede from the Federal Republic of Nigeria and form themselves into a Republic of Biafra.
This new development is certain to heat up the polity and lead to more demonstrations by pro-Biafra agitators. Over recent weeks, several attempts have been made to resolve the matter politically but it appears that the government has rejected such overtures and has decided to pursue the matter legally.
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