The Lagos high court sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square has acquitted and discharged Fredrick Nwajagu, the Eze of Ajao Estate, of terrorism charges.
On Wednesday, the presiding judge, Yetunde Adesanya, ruled
that the Lagos state government failed to prove the terrorism charges against
Nwajagu beyond a reasonable doubt.
However, the judge convicted Nwajagu for parading himself as
a titled chief in violation of the Oba and Chiefs Law of Lagos State.
Nwajagu was sentenced to one year in prison on this charge,
but given that he had already spent nearly two years in prison custody, the
judge ordered his immediate release.
THE CASE
In April 2023, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) arrested
Nwajagu after a video surfaced online in which he made an “inciting statement”.
In the footage, Nwajagu, dressed in his royal regalia,
called on Igbo indigenes in Lagos to recruit members of the Indigenous Peoples
of Biafra (IPOB) to protect their properties from looters.
“IPOB, we will invite them. They have no job. All of the
IPOB will protect all of our shops. And we have to pay them. We have to
mobilise for that. We have to do that,” he said.
A few days later, a magistrate court in the Yaba area of
Lagos remanded Nwajagu in prison custody.
The Lagos state government subsequently arraigned him on a
nine-count charge of terrorism and impersonation.
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