BY AGNES NWORIE, ABAKALIKI
A Chief Magistrate’s Court, sitting in Abakaliki, has granted the Youth Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party Caretaker Committee in Ebonyi State, Obinna Iteshi, and two others, freedom after being charged with alleged burglary.
The caretaker youth leader and the two youths were arrested and arraigned by the Police for alleged burglary, even as they insisted that they went to take possession of the party’s state Secretariat, Enugu-Abakaliki Expressway, sequel to a Federal Court order.
Iteshi and the two others – Ngamgbo Chukwunonso and Nwakpa Chibuzor – were arraigned some hours after their arrest by the Ebonyi State Police Command before a Magistrate Court sitting in Abakaliki.
Recall that the national leadership of the PDP had sacked the Onyekachi Nwebonyi-led PDP executives in Ebonyi State.
The Fred-Udeogu-led Caretaker Committee, on its part, had approached a Federal High Court in Abuja where it obtained an order restraining Nwebonyi and his group from parading themselves as Executive Committee members of the PDP in Ebonyi State.
Armed with the court order, the Udeogu-led members of the party, had gone to the party’s Secretariat, apparently to resume normal party administration, when police allegedly clamped down on them.
While the first accused, Iteshi, was said to have been allegedly arrested within the PDP Secretariat, the second and third accused persons, were said to be returning from examination centres, when they were arrested.
They were arraigned on four counts, bordering on felony, conspiracy, ‘break and entry’ among others.
The Police Prosecutor, ASP Ayeni, told the court that the offences were punishable under sections 516A(a), 411(b), 451(1) and 12 of the Criminal Code Cap. 33, Vol. 1, Laws of Ebonyi State of Nigeria, 2009 and Ebonyi State Internal Security Enforcement and Related Matters Law, Cap. 55, Vol. 2, Laws of Ebonyi State of Nigeria, 2009.
The charge read in part, “That you Barr. Obinna Iteshi ‘m’, Ngamgbo Chukwunonso ‘m’ and Nwakpa Chibuzor ‘m’ and others at large on the 1st day of February, 2021, at the Peoples Democratic Party Secretariat, along Abakaliki-Enugu Road, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did conspire among yourselves to commit felony to wit; Break and Entry, conduct likely to cause breach of peace, malicious damage, burglary and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 516(a) of the Criminal Code Cap. 33, Vol. 1, Laws of Ebonyi State of Nigeria, 2009.”
The Defence Counsel, Luke Nkwegu, pleaded the court to grant his clients bail, arguing that they were not guilty of the offences being levelled against them.
But the Prosecuting Counsel, ASP Ayeni, opposed the bail application, claiming that outside the technicalities of the matter, its administrative dimension should not be eschewed.
Responding, the trial Chief Magistrate, Chinedu Agama, granted the suspects bail in the sum of N50,000.00 each, with one surety in like sum.
The surety must be resident within the jurisdiction of the court and his identity and residence, according to the Magistrate, must be verified by the court.
Speaking during an interview, the youth leader said, “My name is Prince Bar Obinna Iteshi. I am the PDP Caretaker Committee Youth Leader in Ebonyi State.
“We planned in the morning today to go to PDP Secretariat, along Enugu Abakaliki Road, to take over the office officially, based on a federal high court interlocutary injunction restraining the dissolved former PDP executives, led by the former chairman, Barr Onyekachi Nwebonyi, and followed by the constitution of the PDP National Working Committee.
“Immediately we were constituted as caretaker to pilot the affairs of the party in the state, the defunct, desolved executives, led by Onyekachi Nwebonyi and his faction, approached the High Court, Abakaliki, challenging the decision of the National Working Committee of the party, the respondent to their suit.
“As that was going on, we the PDP, both from the National, approached Federal High Court for an injunctive order restraining Nwebonyi from parading himself as PDP chairman of the state. The dissolution came as a result of his anti-party activities.
“The records are there where he has been following Governor Umahi who is currently in APC. He has been attending APC meetings and making comments, playing against the party in favour of APC.
“So today, we said we should go and take over the office. On approaching there in our numbers, we were many, about 500 youths, some elders, some House of Assembly members, some leaders of the party and the caretaker members.
We went to that place, at the gate of the PDP Secretariat, we met over 12 uniformed heavily armed police officers, about 10 soldiers from Nkwegu cantonment, police armoured carrier personel.
“We peacefully explained to them our aim of taking over the office. They asked us if we had authority papers from the court or police. There and then, we showed them a letter written by the IG of Police directing the CP to allow us take over the office. They read through it as well as the order of the Federal High Court that granted us interlocutary injunction.
“They said they must get an order from the CP before allowing us entry into the Secretariat, then we allowed them to call their CP. While we were still waiting for them to get feedback from the CP, the police started shooting, the armoured carrier started working, spreading teargas everywhere.
“In the process, most of the youths with me ran away. But I saw no reason to run. I didn’t go there illegally. I am a lawyer, I know my rights. There, they arrested me, took me to police. Within two hours, they cooked up a charge of alleged burglary at night whereas the incident happened in the day time.”
