How Nnamdi Kanu Smuggled a Radio Transmitter as Household Items, DSS Witness Tells Court

A radio transmitter allegedly smuggled into Nigeria by Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous r4 of Biafra (IPOB), has been admitted as evidence by the Federal High Court in Abuja. During Friday’s hearing, a Department of State Services (DSS) operative, identified as DDD for security reasons, testified that the transmitter was concealed in a 20-foot container labeled as carrying household items and brought into the country without being declared to the Nigeria Customs Service.

The witness told the court that the transmitter was hidden in the residence of one Benjamin Madubougu in Ihiala, Anambra State. According to his testimony, Kanu used the device to broadcast secessionist messages and incite violence through Radio Biafra.

Under cross-examination by the prosecution counsel, Adegboyega Awomolo, the DSS operative said the service maintained a special desk for monitoring Kanu’s broadcasts. A certified copy of a search warrant issued by a magistrate court in Ihiala on October 28, 2015, was also presented and admitted by the court.

A video clip showing Kanu inspecting the transmitter and referring to it as a “game changer” and a “nuclear weapon for Biafra” was admitted in evidence, despite initial objections by the defence team, led by Onyechi Ikpeazu. In addition, the court accepted a flash drive submitted by the prosecution containing 18 video clips and 16 radio broadcasts attributed to Kanu. One of the broadcasts, made on May 29, 2021, featured Kanu calling southeastern political leaders “fools, vagabonds, and idiots” while declaring a sit-at-home order for May 31. In the same broadcast, he warned that anyone who defied the order would be killed.

The DSS witness claimed the broadcast significantly disrupted economic activity in the southeast and contributed to violent enforcement by IPOB’s militant wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN). A written statement from Madubougu was also tendered, confirming that Kanu had not provided customs documentation for the imported transmitter.

In addition, the court admitted a newspaper article in which a purported ESN member claimed Kanu had ordered the collection of 2,000 human heads for burial rites, although only 30 were reportedly obtained. The defence opposed its admissibility, but the court accepted the article along with a certificate of compliance.

The prosecution further requested that the court inspect the container that held the transmitter. The judge, James Omotosho, granted the request. Journalists accompanied the court to the DSS facility, where the container and transmitter were officially inspected and admitted as exhibits. The transmitter was marked as ‘Exhibit Y’ and the container as ‘Exhibit Z’.

Justice Omotosho adjourned the trial to June 18, 19, and 20, during which the prosecution is expected to conclude its case.