All 44 members of the Indigenous
People of Biafra abducted over the weekend in Bayelsa state by the
Nigerian military have been released, Oriental Times learnt.
The Nigerian army on Saturday reportedly stormed their venue of meeting
while they were praying, they were allegedly assaulted before they were
taken away to an unknown destination in hilux vans.
Immediately after their arrest on Saturday 22-10-2016 they were taken to
Army Barrack by PDP road, after which they were transferred to Otiotio
by the former JTF on Sunday 23-10-2016. They were thereafter transferred
to Igbogana same Sunday afternoon.
According to IPOB, the Nigerian army over fear of possible indictment by
Amnesty International were forced not to eliminate the abducted members
as originally planned, as a result of the alarm raised by IPOB world
wide to various international human rights organisation and media
outlets.
We further gathered that they were moved quite early yesterday's morning
from an inside source for an emergency court arraignment. They were
arraigned at Yenagoa Magistrate court close to State CID - Court 5 and
charged with 3 count of:
(1) Conduct likely to cause confusion in the State.
(2) Illegal Assembly and holding illegal meeting.
(3) Belonging to Illegal organization (IPOB).
They were surprisingly granted bail with non-stringent conditions to the
bewilderment of all present in court. They were asked to provide one
surety with a proof of legitimate means of livelihood and must be
resident within the state.
The bail conditions have all been perfected as at the time of publishing
this report and all the 44 IPOB members abducted have been released.
However, the case was adjourned to the 14th of November, 2016 for
hearing.
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