The leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, has failed in his bid to stop the Federal Government from initiating treason trial against him.
The Supreme Court on Friday said Uwazurike had no case and recommended him alongside six other members of MASSOB for trial.
A five-man panel of the Supreme Court unanimously agreed in their judgment that the appeal by Uwazurike and others was unmeritorious and designed to defeat the course of justice.
However, the MASSOB members had pursued the case from the High court to the Supreme court.
The Supreme court, however, ordered that their trial should promptly commence 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.”
In his lead judgement, Justice Rhodes-Vivour 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.
“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 any 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”, he declared. The treason charge against them was initiated by the Federal Government in 2005.
Other MASSOB members affected in the trial include; Ambrose Anyaso, Augustine Ihuoma, Chibuike Nwosu, Kelechi Ubabuike, Chimankpa Okorocha and Benedict Alakwem.
They 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, but the appellate court gave its judgment on May 15, 2008, granting only their prayer for bail.
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