Burning of Rivers Assembly Complex: Court Dismisses Application Challenging Competence of Charge 

Alex Enumah in Abuja

Justice Bolaji Olajuwon of a Federal High Court in Abuja, yesterday, dismissed the application by two Rivers State indigenes challenging the jurisdiction of the court to try them over alleged complicity in the burning of the Rivers State House of Assembly complex in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Chime Eguma Ezebalike and Prince Lukman Oladele, were among five persons charged with terrorism and murder. The others are Kenneth Goodluck Kpasa, Osiga Donald and Ochueja Thankgod.

They were last week arraigned on a seven-count criminal charge bordering on terrorism and murder.

Although, they pleaded not guilty to all the charges, the judge however, ordered that they be remanded at the Kuje Correctional Center, pending the hearing of their bail application fixed for February 2, as well as the motion of the 1st and 2nd defendants challenging the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the suit against them.

Ezebalike and Oladele had argued that by the provisions of the Terrorism Act, it is only the Attorney General of the Federation that can file any charge of terrorism against them.

Their lawyer, Mr. Lukman Fagbemi, SAN, submitted that the charge having been filed by the Inspector General of Police, was incompetent and asked the court to strike out counts 1,3,4,5,6, and 7 of the charge or strike strike out the entire suit for been incompetent.

Responding, Police lawyer, Mr. Simon Lough, SAN, urged the court to dismiss the application for lacking in merit.

According to Lough, besides Sections 4 and 66 of the Police Acts that empower them to bring the charge against the defendants, Section 5 and 99 of the Terrorism Act, shows that the police have powers to also initiate terrorism charges against the defendant.

Delivering ruling in the preliminary objection, Justice Olajuwon pointed out that besides the AGF the police also have a role to play in arraigning defendants on terrorism charge.

“It is not within the exclusive right of the AGF to initiate terrorism charge,” she said, “the powers of the AGF can be exercise by any of the officers in the AGF’s office as well as prosecuting agencies.”

“The charge was competently filed by the Inspector General of Police and the Preliminary Objection (PO) dismissed.”

Meanwhile, the court has fixed Monday January 5, for ruling in the bail application for the defendants. Justice Olajuwon announced that the ruling would be delivered on Monday, after all parties adopted and argued their briefs for and against the bail.

Earlier, the court also dismissed the application by Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s Chief of Staff, Hon. Edison Ehie, seeking to have the charges against him and others struck out for lack of jurisdiction.

The court held that Ehie’s application was incompetent on the grounds that he was not a party to the charge.

According to the judge, the mere fact that Ehie was included in the charge as a person “at large” is of no moment, adding that if the applicant is not at large he should turn himself in to the police or applied to the court to be joined as an interested party before he can have the legal rights to challenge the court’s jurisdiction to entertain the matter.

Justice Bolaji Olajuwon ruled that since Ehie hadn’t been joined as a defendant, he lacked the legal standing to present such an application.

Ehie, who resigned as a member and factional Speaker of the assembly to become the Chief of Staff, was implicated among the suspects charged by the IG for alleged terrorism and other offenses related to the arson at the Rivers House of Assembly.

In the 7-count charge, the defendants were accused of terrorism offences by invading, vandalising and burning down Rivers State House of Assembly during the wake of political crisis that rocked Port Harcourt in October last year.

Beside allegedly burning down the State House of Assembly, they were also accused of killing a Superintendent of Police, (SP) Bako Agbashim and five police informants at Ahoada community of the state.

The police informants alleged to have been killed are Charles Osu, Ogbonna Eja, Idaowuka Felix, Paul Victor Chibuogu and Saturday Edi.

They were also accused of using various cult groups, namely- Supreme Viking Confraternity, Degbam, Iceland and Greenland to unleash mayhem on the people of the state and their commercial activities.

However, when the charge against them marked FHC/ABJ/CR/25/2024 was read, they all pleaded not guilty to the offences.

Specifically, the defendants were alleged to have on October 29, 2023 at Moscow Road in Port Harcourt conspired to commit acts of terrorism by wilful destruction of public properties by invading, attacking, destroying and burning of the Rivers State House of Assembly, an offence punishable under Section 26 of the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act 2022.

Part of the charges read: “That you, Chime Eguma Ezebalike, 37 years, business man of Street 5, Radio Estate Ozuoba, Port Harcourt, Prince Lukman Oladele, 47 years of Okocha Street, Port Harcourt, Kenneth Goodluck Kpasa, Hon Edison Ehie and others now at large on October 29, 2023 at Moscow Road in Port Harcourt, while acting in concert conspired together to commit felony to wit: acts of terrorism by wilful destruction of public properties by invading, attacking, destroying and burning of the Rivers State House of Assembly and you thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 26 (1) of the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act 2022.

“That you Chime Eguma Ezebalike, 37 years, business man of Street 5, Radio Estate Ozuoba, Port Harcourt, Prince Lukman Oladele, 47 years of Okocha Street, Port Harcourt, Kenneth Goodluck Kpasa, Hon Edison Ehie and others now at large on October 29, 2023 at Moscow Road in Port Harcourt, while acting in concert and armed with dynamite, iron rods, lighters and other offensive weapons willfully and maliciously invaded, attacked and set fire on the Rivers State House of Assembly Complex and you thereby committed an offence punishable under section 1 of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, Cap M17 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.