Court acquits Igbo chief accused of threatening to invite IPOB to Lagos

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.