KEY POINTS

• Nwaogu Ihechimere Ezeakolam faces four charges over alleged IPOB membership and support.
• DSS accused him of using online platforms to disseminate messages allegedly intended to encourage public support for IPOB.
• Ezeakolam pleaded not guilty and was remanded pending his bail application, with trial fixed for October 29, 2026.

A retired officer of the Department of State Services (DSS), Nwaogu Ihechimere Ezeakolam, has been arraigned before the Federal High Court in Abuja over allegations bordering on membership of and providing support to the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

Ezeakolam was arraigned on Thursday before Justice Mohammed Garba Umar on a four-count charge filed by Rotimi Oyedepo, Director of Public Prosecutions.

The allegations against the retired operative include joining IPOB, providing moral support to the group and allegedly using social media platforms to disseminate messages intended to encourage members of the public to support the organisation.

DSS alleges IPOB membership and online support

According to the charge sheet, the DSS alleged that Ezeakolam became a member of IPOB sometime between 2025 and 2026, despite being aware that the organisation had been proscribed by the Nigerian government.

The agency further accused him of allegedly providing direct and indirect support to IPOB through the internet and his social media accounts.

The DSS alleged that some of the messages published by the defendant were intended to induce unsuspecting members of the public to support IPOB, which the government designated as a terrorist organisation in 2017.

The charges were brought under various provisions of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

One of the counts accused Ezeakolam of providing moral assistance and disseminating what the prosecution described as terrorist information associated with IPOB through his social media platforms.

Another count alleged that he knowingly joined the proscribed organisation, while a further charge accused him of aiding and abetting IPOB by posting messages calculated to encourage public support for the group.

After the charges were read to him in court, Ezeakolam pleaded not guilty to the allegations.

His plea means the prosecution will be required to establish the allegations against him during the trial, while the defendant remains entitled to the presumption of innocence.

During Thursday’s proceedings, Memunat Oladunjoye, counsel representing the DSS, asked the court to fix a date for the commencement of trial.

However, Godfirst Madu, counsel to Ezeakolam, informed the court that the defence intended to file a bail application.