The leader of a Nigerian militant group blamed for four days of ethnic violence in Lagos was yesterday charged with murder, possession of illegal weapons and arson.
Mr Frederick Fasheun, leader of the Odua Peoples Congress (OPC), was charged along with 41 others in the main magistrates' court in the Yaba district in Lagos. No plea was taken and the case was immediately adjourned to November 17th. All those charged, including one woman, were remanded in custody.
The OPC, an ethnic nationalist organisation established in 1995 to fight for the Yoruba people of southwest Nigeria, has been accused of involvement in series of bloody clashes in Lagos since democracy returned to Nigeria last year. The government on Wednesday accused the OPC of organising the outbreak of violence in Lagos this week in which more than 100 people died.
Police blamed OPC members of hunting down ethnic Hausa rivals in Lagos and killing them.
The OPC has widespread support in the Yoruba region of Nigeria and security was tight for the court appearance.
Heavily-armed police stood guard around the district and no one other than journalists and court officials were allowed into the building.
On Thursday, 72 suspected OPC members were charged with murder, arson and unlawful possession of weapons.
No pleas were taken and their case was adjourned to December 1st.
Excluding Mr Fasheun, about 204 people were arrested on Wednesday and Thursday over the unrest after the government declared the OPC "illegal" and ordered the arrest of its leaders and supporters.