The Nigerian government is assembling a team of lawyers to file fresh charges of mass murder against the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, who has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since Tuesday, THISDAY reports.
The IPOB leader was nabbed outside Nigeria and repatriated to the country over the weekend.
He was subsequently arraigned before Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court on Tuesday.
He was standing trial for a six counts in 2017 but left Nigeria after being granted bail.
His bail was subsequently revoked in September 2019 following his persistent absence from court.
While some reports said he was intercepted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, his brother Kingsley said he was picked up in Kenya by Interpol, handed him over to the operatives of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), which perfected his repatriation to Nigeria on Sunday.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, announced to the nation on Tuesday, the re-arrest of Kanu and his re-arraignment in court on 11 counts that include treasonable felony.
But THISDAY learnt Wednesday night from reliable sources that the justice ministry spent most of Tuesday night mobilising criminal lawyers in its prosecution department to draft fresh charges that might boost the list of allegations against Kanu to include mass murder.
According to ThisDay, security and intelligence agents have credible evidence linking the IPOB leader to the murder of hundreds of people, including those killed during the multiple attacks on police stations, custodian centre and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) facilities in the South-East and South-South regions.
“We have credible evidence of his instructions to IPOB hierarchy to kill security officials and other persons that are seen to be against the group’s agitation.
“We have direct links between his several inciting video and audio messages and the violence in the South-East that has led to the killing of more than 100 Persons,” the source revealed.
