The Federal Government on Wednesday formally charged the three Lebanese men arrested for allegedly belonging to an international terrorist group and importation of arms.
Those arraigned are owners of Amigo Supermarket and Wonderland Amusement Park, Mustapha Fawaz, Abdalah Tahini and Talal Rouda.
The office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) filed a six-count charge bordering on terrorism and importation of arms to render support for terrorism acts.
In count one, Fawaz, Tahini, Rouda were charged with belonging to an international terrorism group, in contravention of Section 16 (1) of the Terrorism Act 2013 (as amended).
In count two, the AGF, among others, accused the trio of receiving training as members of a terrorist group, contrary to Section 7(c) of the same Act.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that it is a criminal offence under the Act to belong to and fund terrorism.
The penalty on conviction is a maximum of 10 years imprisonment on each count.
The three men pleaded not guilty to the charges.
After the arraignment, the Director of Public Prosecution, Mr. Simon Egede, told the court that he was served with copies of an application to quash the charges filed against the three men.
“It is normal that after arraignment, we will get a date for the commencement of trial.
“But just this morning, I was served with a motion by the accused counsel, challenging the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the suit.
“We were also served with a motion filed by the accused, praying the court for an order to re-open the business premises of the first accused,” he said.
In view of this, he urged the court to give the prosecution time within which to study the court processes and reply to the motion. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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I hope this will not be swept under the floor?
ReplyDeleteGod will flush them all from Nigeria in Jesus name Amen