BY TONY EDIKE

ENUGU—Leader of Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra,MASSOB,  Chief Ralph Uwazurike and 280 members of the organisation were, yesterday, remanded in prison custody for allegedly conspiring to overthrow Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime and other governors of the South- Eastern states through unlawful means in order to enthrone Biafra.

They were arraigned before an Enugu Magistrate’s Court presided over by Mr. Dennis Ekoh on a four-count charge of alleged treasonable felony and conducts likely to cause a breach of public peace by flying the flag and wearing Biafran uniforms contrary to Section 156 of the Criminal Code Cap C.38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

Members of the outlawed organization were arrested at various locations in the state on Wednesday while travelling to Hotel Presidential, Enugu, for the 12th anniversary of Igbo Youth Movement, IYM, where former Biafran warlord, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu- Ojukwu  and other prominent Igbo were honoured.

Uwazuruike,accompanied by some dignitaries including National Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance, Chief Victor Umeh, had gone to the office of the State Police Commissioner after the event to ascertain why the MASSOB members were apprehended but the group’s leader,Uwazurike, was also detained by the police.

Uwazurike and all the 280 members of the organisation detained on Wednesday were arraigned before the court amidst tight security. After the charges were read, the accused persons were not allowed to take plea as the magistrate declined jurisdiction to handle the case.

The magistrate also rejected oral applications by counsel to the accused persons to grant them bail, saying they were at liberty to canvass same at the state high court after the matter had been assigned to the appropriate court by the state Attorney-General.

When the court declined jurisdiction and ordered that the accused be remanded in prison, Umeh, who had escorted the accused from the Police Headquarters to the court and stayed throughout the proceeding, was angry as he had wanted to sign as surety, if the bail was granted.