Kanu’s broadcasts led to killing of Jonathan’s ex-aide, retired judge, others – Witness tells court

A former Senior Special Adviser (SSA) to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Ahmed Gulak, and others were killed as a result of broadcasts made by Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), according to testimony given Thursday in an Abuja Federal High Court.

This was stated by a Department of State Services (DSS) official who was returning to testify as the second prosecution witness in Kanu's ongoing terrorism trial.

The defendant's broadcast also resulted in the deaths of retired judge Justice Stanley Nnaji and an aspiring military couple, Sergeant Audu Lucas and Private Glory Matthew, according to the witness, who was a member of the DSS team that looked into the complaint against Kanu made by the then Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami.

According to the witness, Kanu instructed his followers to enforce a sit-in at home in all of the South-Eastern states during one of his broadcasts. As a result, several people who left their homes that day were slain.

According to his inquiry, those enforcing Kanu's sit-at-home order not only killed Sergeant Lucas and Private Matthew, but also decapitated them.

According to the witness, the inquiry also showed that before Gulak was killed, those enforcing Kanu's sit-at-home order accused him of leaving the house on a day when their boss had instructed everyone to stay inside.

He continued by saying that the results of their study showed that Kanu was the leader of both IPOB and ESN, the group's armed wing, and that he established both organizations.

Additionally, the witness stated, "We were able to establish that he (Kanu) founded Radio Biafra through which he made inciting comments like the killing of police officers and burning of property."

Additionally, he said, they discovered that Radio Biafra was not registered in Nigeria and that Kanu's followers set fire to police stations in Cele and Ilasa, both in Lagos, as a result of his broadcast.

The witness said investigation also revealed that about 100 luxury buses, belonging to the Lagos State Government and part of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos State, were burnt as allegedly directed by Kanu in one of his broadcasts.

The witness added: “He (Kanu) not only called for the killing of security officers, he called for them to be beheaded, which they (his followers) did.”

He said their investigation revealed that Kanu’s agitation for Biafra was to secede the states of southeast and part of Benue and Kogi states from Nigeria, adding that the defendant “called for the establishment of the state of Biafra by any means possible, including war.

Earlier, the video recording of the session where investigators, including the witness, interrogated Kanu and obtained a written statement from him, was played in court.

The witness identified Kanu in the video as well as two of his lawyers who were with him during the session, including Alloy Ejimakor.

During interrogation session, which, took place under a convivial atmosphere, as Kanu, his lawyers and the DSS official were seen throwing banters and laughing intermittently, Kanu confirmed being the founder and leader of IPOB and ESN.

 

At a point during the interaction session, Kanu sought and was granted permission to ease himself. He went into the restroom, returned a moment later, and the interview session continued.

Kanu said he was not directly involved in the day-to-day running of both organisations (IPOB and ESN), which he said were managed by their states’ coordinators.

The defendant also said, in the video, that he made broadcast in respect of the EndSARS protest and other broadcasts on Radio Biafra.

 

He said the protest in Lagos during the EndSARS protest was outside the Biafran territory and that the destruction witnessed during the protest could not have been due to his broadcast.

Kanu said he does not have authority over his members, adding that if he had authority over them he would not have subscribed to referendum, he would have just pronounced Biafra into existence.

In the video, Kanu denied that IPOB is responsible for the violent attacks in some parts of the south east and the killings witnessed, adding that “IPOB is a peaceful movement. The IPOB is a non-violent movement.”

 

Kanu, who said he facilitated the establishment of ESN, explained that the organisation was necessitated by the killings of the people of the South East.

He added, “If you look at what was happening in our land, that was what gave rise to ESN. If our people cannot go to the farm, and people are killed on their land, do you sit down and do nothing?

“People can no longer go to the farm; people can no longer carry out their economic activities.”

Kanu blamed the armed soldiers' raid on his home, claiming that this was the reason he fled the country out of fear of being killed.

In addition to claiming that the invasion was needless, he also criticized the way he was detained in Kenya and returned to Nigeria.

Following the principal witness examination, the defendant's attorney, Paul Erokoro (SAN), requested a postponement so that the defense could cross-examine him.

After the parties' attorneys reached an agreement, Justice James Omotosho postponed the hearing to May 14, 21, and 22.