Lagos — A Federal High Court in Lagos will on July 6 rule on an application brought before it by detained 53 members of Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), asking the court to quash the three-count criminal charge preferred against them by the Federal Government.

Trial judge, Justice Marcel Awokulehin, has fixed the ruling after taking the Federal Governmentâ??s submissions on the application which had earlier been argued by the accused personsâ?? counsel, Mr. Anthony Omaghomi, Festus Keyamo's Chambers.

Omaghomi, while moving the application last week, contended that there was nothing in the proof of evidence submitted by the prosecution, which showed that there is a prima facie case against the accused persons.

He also argued that the proof of evidence by the prosecution has not in any way linked the accused with the treason charge, pointing out that government has not been able to sustain the allegation against MASSOB members.

While nothing that the onus is on the complainant to establish that the accused persons have a case to answer, the counsel submitted that since government, the complainant in the case has failed to do so, the court has to quash the charge against the detainees, who he insisted are innocent.

But opposing the application, the prosecuting counsel, Mrs. Uju, insisted that the accused persons have case to answer.

She said the name of the organisation, which the accused persons belong, states its mission which is to actualise the sovereign state of Biafra. She added that they were arrested while in pursuit of one of the agendas of the organisation.

The government lawyer who read section 2 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, where Nigeria was defined as one indivisible and sovereign state. She contended that for the so-called sovereign state of Biafra to be actualised, this constitutional provision must be violated, pointing out that this on its own is intimidating to both the President and Nigeria in general.

The counsel said the police, who effected the arrest of the accused persons, recovered from their possession, Biafran flags, barges, stickers, identity cards and T-shirts, pointing out that all these, have sufficiently linked them with the offence which they were charged with.

The prosecution also said, some of the accused persons, in the course of interrogation by the police, admitted that they are registered members of MASSOB, an organization, its agenda, she said, is to secede from the Nigeria entity.

While noting that no responsible government would fold its hands and watch any part of the country to be broken away, and will not take step to quell such move, in order to maintain the unity of the entity, the counsel said what the government has done is to stop the move so as to hold the nation together.

She therefore asked the court to discountenance the application by MASSOB members.

Replying, Omaghomi, contended that under the statute of the law, in which the accused were charged, membership of an organization is not enough to establish a prima facie case against the accused.

Meanwhile, the court was informed yesterday, that the 10th accused person was absent at the proceeding of yesterday, because he is suffering from psychiatric problem and has been admitted at All Saints Hospital and Maternity, Anambra State. The 26th accused person was said to have been granted bail by a Lagos High Court.

The MASSOB members were alleged to have conspired with others still at large to levy war against the federal government with intent to intimidate the president by participating in the launching of the Biafra Freedom Football Tournament, an offence punishable under section 37 (2) of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA) Chapter 77 , Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990 as amended.

They were also alleged to have belonged to an unlawful society which they used to intimidate the president with a view to interfere with administration of law.