THE Magistrate’s Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers
State, on Wednesday remanded 13 suspects arrested in connection with the
killing of four students of the University of Port Harcourt.
The accused persons were allegedly
part of a mob that tortured the four undergraduates to death in Omuokiri Aluu
in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The suspects, who were escorted by
security agents, were driven into the court premises about 9.45am in a Toyota
Hiace bus with number plate FG 120 F50.
The suspects were in handcuffs and
chains as they appeared in court on five counts of conspiracy and murder.
Presiding Magistrate, Emmanuel Woke,
however, said the court did not have the jurisdiction to hear the matter.
Woke immediately announced the
transfer of the case to the Department of Public Prosecution for legal advice
and subsequent arraignment in a High Court.
The magistrate also said the
suspects should seek bail from the high court.
A Chief Superintendent of Police, Mr.
Henry Njoku, stood as counsel for the prosecution while Mr. A.A. Finebone was
the counsel for the first accused and village head of Aluu, Alhaji Hassan
Walewa.
Mr. Austine Ojekudo and others from
the Nigeria Bar Association and the Human Rights Commission were in court as
concerned parties.
The charges against the accused as
contained in Charge Sheet Number PMC/2009C/2012, are “That you conspired among
yourselves to commit felony to wit: murder and thereby committed an offence
punishable under Section 324 of the criminal code Cap 37 laws of Rivers State
of Nigeria 1999.”
The suspects and others at large were
accused of lynching Ugonna Obuzor, Toku Lloyd, Chiadika Biringa, and Tekenah
Erikena, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 319 of the
criminal code Cap 37 volume III laws of Rivers State of Nigeria 1999.
The court, however, adjourned the
case till December 20, 2012.
Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor of
UNIPORT, Prof. Joseph Ajienka, has explained why he removed Dr. Andrew Efemini,
as Head of Department of Philosophy.
Ajienka, who spoke with newsmen in
Port Harcourt on Wednesday, said Efemini made an inflammatory statement that
incited students to embark on a violent protest in Aluu.
The students had carried out a
protest against the killing of their colleagues by suspected members of Aluu.
The Vice-Chancellor noted that the
former HOD’s action on the day of the protest inflamed the already tensed
situation, which the university was battling at all costs to contain.
Ajienka stated that such situation
would not be tolerated by a responsible administration management, even as he
insisted that the decision to remove Efemini was in order.
The Vice-Chancellor added, “Efemini’s
ill-advised action on that day inflamed an already tensed situation that we
were battling on all fronts to contain. Under the untenable situation in which
Dr. Efemini’s action put me, it was better to protect him and myself.”