I left my shops open and went away for 15 years, man arrested for being MASSOB member recounts ordeal
Pascal Oparada
A man, Casimir Udoka, arrested in 2007 by the Nigerian police for purportedly belonging to the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), said he left two shops open and went to buy something when he was picked up by the police.
“I am a businessman. In the shop, I have two stalls which I left unlocked and went away early in the morning. They picked me up and took me to the police station. I told my neighbours that I am coming back in the next one hour. This is the next one hour. 15 years ago, I left my shop unlocked. I don’t know anything. Today, I regained freedom,” the man said.
Udoka is among the 19 people acquitted by a Federal High court in Anambra on Friday on charges of treason and terrorism. They were arrested by the police as Nigeria intensified the crackdown on separatist groups in the country.
The defence counsel said the court was unable to produce any evidence against the accused.
“In the end, the prosecution could not produce any iota of evidence. No weapon, not even the uniform was produced. This is a case where these men wasted their youthful years and were subjected to trial for waging war against the state.”
The trial judge, Justice Nicolas Oweibo said the prosecutor failed to establish proof for treason and terrorism against the 19 accused persons.
Nigeria is battling to contain a wave of separatist agitations sweeping across the country, especially in the South.
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Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, another separatist group, was arrested in 2017 for charges of treason and terrorism. He was granted bail and fled the country. He was re-arrested in April in Kenya and brought back to Nigeria. Kanu is standing trial at a Federal High Court in Abuja.
Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho, leader of the Yoruba Nation was arrested in the Benin Republic en route to Germany as was trying to flee Nigeria following a raid on his house by the Department of State Security (DSS).
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