We didn’t arrest Kanu with any weapon,  says DSS witness

At the resumed trial of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, a witness of the Federal Government admitted at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday that no weapon of terrorism or violence was recovered from the Biafra nation agitator during his arrest on October 15, 2015 in Lagos.

The witness who is an operative of the Department of the State Service, and code named PWAAA, also informed the court that no arms of public disturbance were recovered from the lady arrested alongside Kanu.

In a cross examination conducted by Kanu’s lawyer, Kanu Agabi SAN, the witness, whose identity was shielded for security reasons, said most of the items that were retrieved from the hotel room were Kanu’s personal belongings, among which included materials for radio broadcast.

However, the operative maintained that though the recovered items may not be ordinarily harmful, he said their intended usage by the defendant could be a source of problem.

PWAAA listed the items recovered from Kanu to include: 1 Black laptop, 2 Multi mix transmitters, 1 Mini white Apple iPad with pouch, 1 Grey Apple iPad with pouch, 1 Grey MacBook with pouch, 1 Grey MacBook with case, 1 Mini drone sound wave speaker, 2 Mini white speakers, 1 Large computer mouse, 1 White adaptor, 1 Laptop adaptor and 1 Carton bag with laptop.

Others are Two 3G modems, 2 Glo modems, 1 Glo Hawaii modem, 1 MTN modem, 1 Etisalat modem, 1 Flash drive, 1 Camcorder, 1 Hand recorder in a black pouch, 1 MacBook Pro adaptor, 1 Mic stand, 1 Phillips headphone, 1 Radio Sharp mic with cord, 1 Pro sound mic with cord, 1 4G LTE modem, a bunch of cards, 1 Power adaptor for mixer.

Also recovered are 1 Easy Blaze white modem, 1 Samsung phone,1 Black Motorola phone and 1 Nokia phone as well as; 1 Black Samsung phone, 1 Black phone, 1 D-Link black modem,1 8GB flash drive, 1 Extension wire adaptor, 1 Pair of shoes, 1 Belt, 1 Pair of ciderwood sneakers and 1 Footwear, 1 Black Softech wristwatch, 2 Singlets, 1 Sealed Hermes perfume, 1 Trinket, 1 Pokham perfume, 1 Fredrick Peckham wristwatch, 1 Diesel wristwatch, 1 Alexander Christy collection wristwatch, 1 Club wristwatch and10 items altogether.

The last set of items he listed are 3 Bank MasterCards, Copies of documents, 1 Copy of IPOB complementary card, Documents tagged IPOB, 1 White clipper, 1 Bottle of medicine, 1 Oman perfume, 2 Mini scented oils, 1 Empty black purse, 1 Nigerian passport bearing the names Okwu Kanu Nwannekaibeya Nnamdi Ngozichukwu and 1 British passport bearing the name Okwu Kanu Nwannekaibeya, 1 Black purse, 1 Passport holder, 1 Card holder, 1 Box of Rocarden wristwatch and 4 Bundles of cords.

The recovered items, which were brought before the court in four suitcases, were earlier admitted in evidence and marked as exhibits by trial Justice James Omotosho.

Answering more questions during the cross-examination, the witness, admitted that he did not analyse any of the items as he was only mandated to arrest the defendant and obtain his statement.

Though the PWAAA admitted that Kanu’s phones were eventually analysed, he said the report of the analysis was not tendered before the court as it was not considered important.

The witness acknowledged that since over 10 years that the items were taken away from Kanu and confiscated, they would have lost their value or expired.

More so, the witness admitted that at the time Kanu’s statement was obtained, none of his lawyers were present to observe the process.

Asked if he was aware of other persons also facing trial over Biafra agitation, the witness answered in the negative, saying he does not know any person that is facing a similar trial as Kanu.

He, however, told the court that he is aware that one Simon Ekpa has been arrested and would soon be brought back to Nigeria to face trial for supporting Kanu’s agitation.

Besides, he told the court that he could not remember any time that Kanu complained about corruption in high places, high unemployment rate among youths or when he tendered apologies for insulting the President and Igbo leaders.

The operative further told the court that he could not remember anytime that Kanu described the IPOB as a non-violent voluntary organization.

While acknowledging that there have been killings in some part of the country, especially in the North, the witness said he was aware that the government has been doing its best to stem the tide.

He said he does not know if the killings had anything to do with any form of agitation for self-actualization.

Meanwhile, Justice Omotosho adjourned the matter to May 6, 7 and 8 for continuation of the cross-examination based on the agreement of lawyers.