Biafra: Kanu not charged with treason felony –IPOB 

From Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), yesterday, said its leader, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu was never charged with treason as reported in the media.
Spokespersons of IPOB, Mr. Emma Nmezu and Dr. Clifford Iroanya, in a statement said it deemed it necessary to explain to the public, the frivolous charges brought against Nnamdi Kanu by the Department of State Services (DSS) and to give accurate information on the number of charges .
The group said the essence was to give accurate information on the number of charges brought against Kanu and distinguish between what was being reported and what was exactly on the charge sheet as well as provide the public with relevant information on the laws cited by the DSS on the charge sheet and how relevant they are to the charges brought against Kanu.
The group said on  January 20, 2016, the DSS arraigned Nnamdi Kanu along with two other Biafrans on three charges and not six charges as being erroneously reported by most Nigerian media.
According to the statement: “In this first part of the enlighten series, we shall dwell on the first charge which reads as follows: ‘That you, Nnamdi Kanu and other unknown persons, now at large, at London, United Kingdom, between 2014 and September, 2015 had intention to levy war against Nigeria in order to force the President to change his measures of being the President of the Federation, Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federation as defined in Section 3 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
“By doing an act to wit: Broadcast on Radio Biafra your preparations for the states in the South- East geo-political zone, South-South geo-political zone, the Igala Community of Kogi State and the Idoma/Igede Community of Benue State to secede from the Federal Republic of Nigeria and form themselves into a Republic of Biafra, and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 41(C) of the Criminal Code Act, CAP C38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
“To further enlighten the public, we hereby publish verbatim, the entire Section 41 of CAP C38 LFN 2004 including the accompanying punishment if conviction is achieved: Treasonable felonies: Any person who forms an intention to effect any of the following purposes, that is to say-to remove during his term of office otherwise than by constitutional means the President as Head of State of the Federation and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces thereof; or to likewise remove during his term of office the Governor of a State.
“Or to levy war against Nigeria in order by force or constraint to compel the President to change his measures or counsel, or to put any force or constraint upon, or to intimidate or overawe any House of the National Assembly or any other legislature or legislative authority; or to instigate any foreigner to make any armed invasion of Nigeria of any or the territories thereof and manifest such intention by an overt act, is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for life,” Nmezu and Iroanya  stated.
“We, hereby, breakdown this first charge as follows: That Nnamdi Kanu and an indeterminate number of persons whom the DSS don’t even know have formed an intention to levy war against Nigeria. In addition, the DSS is asserting that both Nnamdi Kanu and these “unknown persons“ committed the treasonable felony act in London—United Kingdom”.
“That the period within which Nnamdi Kanu and these indeterminate number of “unknown persons“ performed this act was from 2014 (no specific date and month in 2014) to September 2015 (no specific date in the month of September).
“That the method in which they committed the treasonable felony as defined by 41-C was by broadcasting on Radio Biafra. And that what they did by broadcasting on Radio Biafra was their preparation of the states in South-East and South-South geo-political zones to secede from Nigeria to form Republic of Biafra. That Igala Community in Kogi state and Idoma/Igede Community in Benue state were also part of the areas that will form the Republic Biafra which will secede from Nigeria”.
“That the action explained above qualifies for the condition specified in 41-C for treasonable felony of which the punishment  upon conviction is life imprisonment for Nnamdi Kanu and those indeterminate number of “unknown persons“. Having  broken down the charges, we will now raise some pertinent questions in the next edition of this enlightenment series” spokespersons stated.