A retired officer of the Department of State Services, Nwaogu Ezeakolam, was on Wednesday arraigned before the Federal High Court in Abuja over alleged links to the Indigenous People of Biafra, a group proscribed as a terrorist organisation.
The accused appeared before Justice Mohammed Umar on a four-count charge filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN.
The prosecution alleged that between 2025 and 2026 in Abuja and Abia State, Ezeakolam directly and indirectly rendered support to IPOB by providing moral assistance and disseminating information about the group through the internet and his social media platforms, an offence said to be contrary to Section 13 of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
He was also accused of joining the proscribed organisation in Abia State within the same period, contrary to Section 25 of the same Act.
Further, the DSS alleged that the former officer knowingly aided IPOB by posting messages on social media calculated to induce unsuspecting members of the public to support the group, contrary to Section 26 of the Terrorism Act, and that he posted and caused to be accessed other messages aimed at advancing the cause of IPOB, contrary to Section 18 of the Cybercrimes (Prevention, Prohibition, etc.) Act, 2015, as amended.
When the charges were read to him, Ezeakolam pleaded not guilty. Counsel to the DSS, Memunat Oladunjoye, asked for a date for the commencement of trial, while defence counsel, Godfirst Maduka, applied for a date to file a bail application.
Justice Umar said the bail application could be filed at any time and subsequently ordered that the defendant be remanded at Kuje prison pending the application.
The judge fixed October 29, 2026 for the opening of the trial.
