Ozubulu Church Massacre: Anambra
Ozubulu Church Massacre: Anambra
Government And Police Must Unconditionally Release And Acquit
Treadingnews. Com
Incarcerated 94yrs Old Chief Priest & Five Other Criers Of Traditional Justice Accused Of “Trial By Ordeal”
By Intersociety
(Intersociety Nigeria: 3rd September 2018)-The Government of Anambra State through its Attorney General and the authorities of the State Police Command must unconditionally release, discharge and acquit the following six incarcerated and persecuted citizens: (1) Anazo Ilomuanya (94yrs old Chief Priest of Ndiekwulu Deity in Ozubulu), (2) Okoli Appolo Udegbunam (68yrs), (3) Igbokwe Nnanyeleze (65yrs),(4) Ifediorah Aloysius (64yrs, (5) Emeka Anaekwe (38yrs), who is the leader of the disenchanted Ozubulu youths and (6) Richard Obimaluokwu (not among the first arrestees but was later arrested and charged for “trial by ordeal”, among other phantom charges and remanded in Nnewi Prison custody till date).
Intersociety is specifically calling on the Attorney General of Anambra State & Commissioner for Justice to as a matter of urgent public importance and inexcusability, file a motion for withdrawal and discontinuation (nolle prosequi) of the said phantom charges of “trial by ordeal”, among others; deemed vindictive and diversionary. In other words, the State AG should urgently exercise the said powers vested in him by Section 211 (c) of the 1999 Constitution (to take over and discontinue criminal trial at any stage during its trial in his State). The six incarcerated innocent citizens especially the 94yrs old Chief Priest of Ndiekwulu Deity, Ozubulu, must be released unconditionally and discharged and acquitted.
It is the position of Intersociety that the six incarcerated citizens who are all indigenes of Ozubulu Community in Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State are being incarcerated and persecuted on the grounds of their faith particularly for exercising their rights to freedom of religion and worship having belonged to or became sympathizers of traditional religion; guaranteed as a fundamental human right by Section 38 of the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 as well as the UN Covenant on Civil & Political Rights of 1976 and the African Charter on Human & People’s Rights of 1981; all of which Nigeria is a party to.
Background: The six incarcerated citizens were on 20 th July 2018 arrested by the combined operatives of the Ozubulu Police Divisional Command and the State Criminal Investigation Department, all of the Anambra State Police Command. The arrested citizens were detained at the State CID, Awka for four days and accused spuriously of sundry misdemeanor charges ranging from “trial by ordeal” to “malicious publication” and “defamation of character”; leading to their arraignment at the Ekwusigo Magistrate Court in Ozubulu.
They were arraigned with Charge No.:
MOZ/128 C/2018: Commissioner of Police, Anambra State v Emeka Anaekwe & 4ors; from where they were remanded in Nnewi Prison custody till date owing to hash bail conditions imposed or attached to their court bail. Offences of misdemeanor wrongfully slammed on the six incarcerated citizens legally attract lenient bail conditions and punishable only with one year imprisonment on conviction, on each of the count charges.
Contrarily, the six incarcerated citizens were granted bail with stringent conditions suspected to have been manipulated by a cabal with a hand in series of organized crimes (i.e. drug war killings) that gripped the Ozubulu Community in recent years including the 6 th August 2017 Catholic Church massacre in which 13 worshippers were massacred and 22 others inflicted with various degrees of gunshot injury. Efforts to get the bail conditions varied using the same Magistrate Court were frustrated by the same cabal said to have strong sympathy of the State Police Command as well as reported backing from some top officials of the Government of Anambra State and the Nnewi Diocese of the Catholic Church in Nigeria.
The bail variation efforts paid off at a State High Court via the Presiding Vacation Judge, Hon Justice S.N. Odili who heard a motion on notice for variation of the hash bail conditions on 20 th August 2018 and got same varied in his ruling delivered on 23 rd August 2018. While the new bail processes and conditions were being perfected, the same cabal hurriedly filed a notice of appeal before the Enugu Division of the Court of Appeal for stay of execution of the High Court judgment granting lenient bail conditions to the incarcerated six innocent citizens.
Intersociety was also told that the shoddy services of the officer in charge of the appeal unit at the State High Court were procured for purpose of preparing and transmitting fraudulent records of proceedings to the Court of Appeal; all for the sole aim of keeping the six innocent citizens perpetually incarcerated in the prison custody. The worst of it all was how the Enugu Division of the Court of Appeal was reportedly misled and furnished with falsified records of proceedings and surprisingly stampeded into fixing 25 th April 2019 as “a hearing date for the motion on notice” for stay of execution with respect to the State High Court ruling varying the hash bail conditions. What all this means is that if the ungodly status quo is allowed un-reversed, a 94yrs old man and th
Government And Police Must Unconditionally Release And Acquit
Treadingnews. Com
Incarcerated 94yrs Old Chief Priest & Five Other Criers Of Traditional Justice Accused Of “Trial By Ordeal”
By Intersociety
(Intersociety Nigeria: 3rd September 2018)-The Government of Anambra State through its Attorney General and the authorities of the State Police Command must unconditionally release, discharge and acquit the following six incarcerated and persecuted citizens: (1) Anazo Ilomuanya (94yrs old Chief Priest of Ndiekwulu Deity in Ozubulu), (2) Okoli Appolo Udegbunam (68yrs), (3) Igbokwe Nnanyeleze (65yrs),(4) Ifediorah Aloysius (64yrs, (5) Emeka Anaekwe (38yrs), who is the leader of the disenchanted Ozubulu youths and (6) Richard Obimaluokwu (not among the first arrestees but was later arrested and charged for “trial by ordeal”, among other phantom charges and remanded in Nnewi Prison custody till date).
Intersociety is specifically calling on the Attorney General of Anambra State & Commissioner for Justice to as a matter of urgent public importance and inexcusability, file a motion for withdrawal and discontinuation (nolle prosequi) of the said phantom charges of “trial by ordeal”, among others; deemed vindictive and diversionary. In other words, the State AG should urgently exercise the said powers vested in him by Section 211 (c) of the 1999 Constitution (to take over and discontinue criminal trial at any stage during its trial in his State). The six incarcerated innocent citizens especially the 94yrs old Chief Priest of Ndiekwulu Deity, Ozubulu, must be released unconditionally and discharged and acquitted.
It is the position of Intersociety that the six incarcerated citizens who are all indigenes of Ozubulu Community in Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State are being incarcerated and persecuted on the grounds of their faith particularly for exercising their rights to freedom of religion and worship having belonged to or became sympathizers of traditional religion; guaranteed as a fundamental human right by Section 38 of the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 as well as the UN Covenant on Civil & Political Rights of 1976 and the African Charter on Human & People’s Rights of 1981; all of which Nigeria is a party to.
Background: The six incarcerated citizens were on 20 th July 2018 arrested by the combined operatives of the Ozubulu Police Divisional Command and the State Criminal Investigation Department, all of the Anambra State Police Command. The arrested citizens were detained at the State CID, Awka for four days and accused spuriously of sundry misdemeanor charges ranging from “trial by ordeal” to “malicious publication” and “defamation of character”; leading to their arraignment at the Ekwusigo Magistrate Court in Ozubulu.
They were arraigned with Charge No.:
MOZ/128 C/2018: Commissioner of Police, Anambra State v Emeka Anaekwe & 4ors; from where they were remanded in Nnewi Prison custody till date owing to hash bail conditions imposed or attached to their court bail. Offences of misdemeanor wrongfully slammed on the six incarcerated citizens legally attract lenient bail conditions and punishable only with one year imprisonment on conviction, on each of the count charges.
Contrarily, the six incarcerated citizens were granted bail with stringent conditions suspected to have been manipulated by a cabal with a hand in series of organized crimes (i.e. drug war killings) that gripped the Ozubulu Community in recent years including the 6 th August 2017 Catholic Church massacre in which 13 worshippers were massacred and 22 others inflicted with various degrees of gunshot injury. Efforts to get the bail conditions varied using the same Magistrate Court were frustrated by the same cabal said to have strong sympathy of the State Police Command as well as reported backing from some top officials of the Government of Anambra State and the Nnewi Diocese of the Catholic Church in Nigeria.
The bail variation efforts paid off at a State High Court via the Presiding Vacation Judge, Hon Justice S.N. Odili who heard a motion on notice for variation of the hash bail conditions on 20 th August 2018 and got same varied in his ruling delivered on 23 rd August 2018. While the new bail processes and conditions were being perfected, the same cabal hurriedly filed a notice of appeal before the Enugu Division of the Court of Appeal for stay of execution of the High Court judgment granting lenient bail conditions to the incarcerated six innocent citizens.
Intersociety was also told that the shoddy services of the officer in charge of the appeal unit at the State High Court were procured for purpose of preparing and transmitting fraudulent records of proceedings to the Court of Appeal; all for the sole aim of keeping the six innocent citizens perpetually incarcerated in the prison custody. The worst of it all was how the Enugu Division of the Court of Appeal was reportedly misled and furnished with falsified records of proceedings and surprisingly stampeded into fixing 25 th April 2019 as “a hearing date for the motion on notice” for stay of execution with respect to the State High Court ruling varying the hash bail conditions. What all this means is that if the ungodly status quo is allowed un-reversed, a 94yrs old man and th
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