The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Friday, declined to strike out a seven-court terrorism charge that the Inspector General of Police filed against five loyalists of Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State.
The defendants; Chime Eguma Ezebalike, Prince Lukman Oladele, Kenneth Goodluck Kpasa, Osiga Donald and Ochueja Thankgod, were on January 25, remanded at the Kuje prison in Abuja over an allegation that they were complicit in the invasion, vandalisation and burning down of the Rivers State House of Assembly complex.
Police alleged that the defendants had in the wake of the political crisis that rocked the state in October last year, invaded the House of Assembly complex in a bid to frustrate an attempt to impeach the governor.
They were in the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/25/2024, equally accused of killing a Superintendent of Police, SP, Bako Agbashim and other five police informants at Ahoada community I Rivers State.
Names of three police informants that were allegedly killed by the defendants, were given as; Charles Osu, Ogbonna Eja, Idaowuka Felix, Paul Victor Chibuogu and Saturday Edi.
The prosecution equally accused the defendants of using various cult groups, namely; Supreme Vikings Confraternity, Degbam, Iceland and Greenland, to unleash mayhem on the people of the state and their commercial activities.
However, at the resumed proceeding in the matter on Friday, two of the defendants, Ezebalike and Oladele, challenged the competence of the charge, insisting that the IGP lacked the locus standi to institute the action.
They urged the court to strike out the charge for constituting an abuse of the judicial process.
According to them, under sections 3 and 74 of the Terrorism Prevention & Prohibition Act, TPPA, 2022, only the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, was empowered to institute such action against anyone.