Magistrate Court sitting in Port Harcourt has remanded Deele Akpobari, one of the suspects in the attempted murder of Gani Topba, leader of the Conscience of Ogoni People.
Topba was reportedly ambushed on his way back from Zaakpo community in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State to Port Harcourt on March 12, 2024, and was shot multiple times, leaving him critically injured.
Three individuals connected to the crime are already awaiting trial at the Port Harcourt Correctional Center, following a remand notice issued by a State High Court.
Akpobari, popularly known as “Bob Satan,” was recently arrested by detectives from the Anti-Cultism Unit of the Rivers State Police Command.
When Akpobari was brought before the Magistrate Court in a remand proceeding filed by the Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Mustapha, the presiding Chief Magistrate, Rosemary Ibanibo, declined jurisdiction.
She did not allow the charges to be read or the plea to be taken.
Chief Magistrate Ibanibo directed that the case file be sent to the Department of Public Prosecution, DPP, for legal advice and adjourned the matter to November 12, 2024, for arraignment and trial on charges of attempted murder, cultism, possession of illegal firearms, and related offenses.
