By Ayomide Joseph
Barley a day after an Abuja Court issued an arrest order for Edison Ehi, the Chief of Staff to Governor Siminalayi Fubara, in connection with the explosion at the Rivers Assembly, a Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday rejected the plea by five loyalists of Governor Fubara to prevent the Inspector General of Police (IGP) from prosecuting them on terrorism charges.
The arrest of Edison Ehi, who was the factional assembly leader during the political power struggle between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike, was initially ordered by a Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday.
The arrest order follows explosion that occurred at the state assembly complex amidst alleged attempts by some lawmakers to impeach Governor Fubara on October 30, 2023, with some of the governor’s loyalists suspected to be involved.
Dealing another blow on Fubara allies On Friday, Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon, the trial judge, dismissed the preliminary objections raised by the five defendants against the IGP.
The judge declared that the defendants were mistaken in claiming that only the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) had the authority to prosecute them.
Justice Olajuwon emphasized that the Terrorism Prevention Act, particularly sections 3, 63, and 74, clearly granted the police the right to initiate criminal charges related to terrorism in a competent court of jurisdiction. The court further noted that while the AGF had the power to take over, continue, or terminate initiated criminal charges under section 174 of the 1999 Constitution, this did not confer exclusive trial rights to the AGF.
The court deemed the preliminary objections incompetent and lacking in merit, ultimately dismissing them. Justice Olajuwon scheduled the ruling on the defendants’ bail applications for Monday, February 5, 2024, while ordering the defendants to be returned to Kuje Prison in Abuja until the decision on bail is made.
The charges against the five defendants, named in the case marked FHC/ABJ/CR/25/2024, include allegations of burning down the State House of Assembly, causing the death of a police DPO, late SP Bako Agbashim, and five police informants in Ahoada community. The defendants are also accused of employing various cult groups to unleash violence and disrupt public peace, punishable under section 26 of the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act 2022.
