Nnamdi Kanu smuggled radio transmitter as household items, DSS witness tells court

The federal high court in Abuja has admitted in evidence a radio transmitter allegedly smuggled into the country by Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

At the court session on Friday, an operative of the Department of State Services (DSS), identified as DDD for security reasons, told the court how Kanu allegedly smuggled a radio transmitter into the country, concealed in a 20-foot container alongside household items.

Testifying as the fourth prosecution witness, DDD told the court that the transmitter was brought into Nigeria without declaration to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).

He added that the transmitter was hidden at the residence of one Benjamin Madubougu in Ihiala, Anambra state.

Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Adegboyega Awomolo, the witness stated that Kanu used the transmitter to incite violence and broadcast secessionist messages against the Nigerian state.

The court also admitted in evidence a certified copy of the search warrant issued by a chief magistrate court in Ihiala on October 28, 2015.

A video recording showing Kanu inspecting the transmitter was also tendered and admitted, despite initial objections by the defence team led by Onyechi Ikpeazu.

In the video played in open court, Kanu was seen praising the transmitter, describing it as a game changer and a nuclear weapon for Biafra.

The witness told the court that the DSS had a desk designated to monitor and record every broadcast made by Kanu on Radio Biafra.

The prosecution tendered a flash drive containing 18 video clips and 16 radio broadcasts attributed to Kanu, which the court admitted as evidence.

In one of the broadcasts, which the IPOB leader made on May 29, 2021, he described south east political leaders as “fools, vagabonds and idiots” and then declared a sit-at-home for May 31, 2021.

Kanu warned that anybody who disobeyed his sit-at-home order and ventured out of his or her house on the said day would die.

“If you come out on the 31st, you are going to die, and if the zoo army tries anything, they will be confronted,” Kanu had said.

“From my investigation, the broadcast directly contributed to economic paralysis in the south-east, as it fuelled the enforcement of IPOB’s sit-at-home order by its militant wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN),” the DSS witness said.

Also, Madubougu’s statement in which he admitted that Kanu did not provide any customs documentation for the imported transmitter was presented to the court.

The court also admitted a newspaper in which an alleged ESN member claimed that Kanu ordered the collection of 2,000 human heads for burial rites, although only 30 were reportedly obtained.

While the defence team objected to the admissibility of the newspaper article, the court admitted it along with a certificate of compliance.

The prosecution further applied for the court to inspect the 20-foot container that housed the transmitter and other related items currently held at the DSS facility. The request was granted without opposition.

James Omotosho, presiding judge, then directed that the transmitter and the container should be inspected in the company of the journalists in court.

After the inspection, the judge admitted the transmitter as ‘exhibit-Y’ and the container as ‘exhibit-Z’ during a brief proceeding conducted within the premises of the DSS office in Abuja.

Omotosho then adjourned the matter until June 18, June 19 and June 20, within which the prosecution is expected to close its case.