Germany has convicted four members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) who attacked Ike Ekweremadu, former deputy senate president as reported by TheCable. The news channel also learnt that the attackers served their sentences.
The convictions, which were handed out in August, went completely under the radar but diplomatic sources in Germany said that the four Nigerians in Germany who attacked Ike Ekweremadu who were IPOB members were prosecuted for physical assault and sentenced to 20 days of labour “without pay”.
The Nigerian embassy did not immediately respond to revealing the identities of the convicts.
In August 2019, the serving senator from Enugu state was beaten up by Biafra agitators in Nuremberg at an event organised by “Ndigbo Germany”.
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IPOB — which Nigeria had declared a terrorist organisation — claimed responsibility for the attack which it said “should serve as a warning” to Igbo leaders “that any day we find them in a public event abroad, they will be humiliated”.
Nigerian government officials later informed TheCable that the Bavaria state police had identified four of the attackers in the course of their investigation.
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The Nigerian embassy also mounted pressure on the German federal authorities to bring the attackers to justice following the initial reluctance of the state police to investigate the assault which was captured on video.
Contrary to social media rumours, no IPOB member was deported.
Under section 102 (1), chapter 3, of the German criminal code, attacks against organs and representatives of foreign states are punishable with fines and imprisonment.It states, “(1) Whosoever commits an attack against the life or limb of a foreign head of state, member of a foreign government, the head of a foreign diplomatic mission who is accredited in the federal territory while the victim is in Germany in his official capacity shall be liable to imprisonment not exceeding five years or a fine, in especially serious cases to imprisonment of not less than one year.
“(2) In addition to a sentence of imprisonment of at least six months, the court may order the loss of the ability to hold public office to vote and be elected in public elections (section 45(2) and (5).”
However, Ekweremadu was not on an official duty in Germany when he was attacked.
The Nigerian embassy source said that two of the attackers had initially filed an appeal against their conviction but later withdrew it.
Source: The Cable