Eze Ndigbo Fredrick Nwajagu, a leader in the Igbo community in the state’s Ajao Estate area, was charged by the Lagos State government on Wednesday with terrorism-related offenses at a Federal High sitting in Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS).
Nwajagu was detained by Department of State Services (DSS) agents in March after a video surfaced in which he allegedly threatened to invite members of the illegal Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to defend the Igbos and their possessions in response to a string of attacks on markets where Igbo traders predominated and saw their goods and properties destroyed.
In his case, Superintendent of Police (SP) Thomas Nurudeen, the prosecutor, informed the court that the claimed offenses were committed on March 26, 2023, by Nwajagu and some other fugitives.
“The accused, Nwajagu, put fear in Lagos residents when he threatened to bring IPOB to the state. He publicly said that IPOB would shut Lagos State for one month,” Nurudeen said, adding that the alleged offences contravene sections 168 (d) and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
A statement made available to journalists by the Director of Public Affairs in the Ministry of Justice, Grace Alo, stated that Nwajago was brought before the court by the state’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Moyo Onigbanjo.
“Onigbanjo, represented by Mr. Jonathan Ogunsanya (a Deputy Director in the Ministry of Justice), arraigned the defendant in a suit marked “LD/21505C/2023 – THE STATE OF LAGOS VS FREDERICK NKEMDILIM NWANJAGO,” the statement said.
“The nine counts include attempt to do acts of terorism under Section 403(2) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015; “Participation in a terrorism meeting to support a proscribed entity.
“Attempt to finance an act of terrorism and Preparation to commit an act of terrorism under Sections 12(c), 18, 21, 29 & 12(a) of the Terrorism (Prevention & Prohibition) Act, 2022, amongst others,” it added.
At the end of the proceeding, Chief Magistrate Peter Nwaka ordered that the defendant be kept at the Ikoyi Custodial Facility for 30 days, pending advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), and the case was adjourned till July 5.