…in the sum of N10,000,000
The Kogi State High Court sitting in Lokoja, has granted bail to the embattled lawmaker representing Kogi West in the National Assembly, Senator Dino Melaye.
The Chief Judge of Kogi State, Justice Nasir Ajanah, in a ruling on the bail application by Melaye’s lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), on Wednesday, granted the bail in the sum of N10,000,000.
Details later
Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Second Vice-President Monday Onye-kachi Ubani has frowned at the rearrest of Senator Dino Melaye after meeting his bail condition.
He also condemned the degrading treatment of lawyers in the line of their duties.
He urged lawyers to take steps to protect themselves.
Ubani said: “They came for the Catholics, I did not speak up because I was not a Catholic; they came for the Protestants and as usual I did not speak up because I was not a Protestant. Eventually, they came for the Jews and as is customary with me, I did not speak up because I was not a Jew, and finally they came for me and there was nobody to speak on my behalf!
“If it is true that Dino Melaye was re-arrested at the court premises on May 2, 2018 after he met the conditions of his bail having been charged earlier, then we are descending big time to the abyss as a nation.
“Take note that I am not a fan of Senator Dino Melaye and his likes in the National Assembly, but I will be doing a great disservice to this nation by supporting what is going on pertaining to the arrest, ill-treatment, lack of respect to human rights and assault to dignity of Senator Melaye by the Nigerian Police authority.
“No matter his offence, the law presumes him innocent until he is convicted by the court in the land. This brutal ill-treatment, assault to his freedom and dignity should be deprecated, condemned by well meaning Nigerians whose conscience is still alive.
“It was this week that policemen arrested and handcuffed legal practitioners who came to represent this same Melaye. It took the intervention of over 100 lawyers to secure their bail at the Magistrate Court in Abuja after they had spent days in detention.
“The police were even antagonistic to the lawyers who came for their defence in court (of all places). I repeat we are descending to the abyss. It was not right then and it will not be right now. Those who have ears let them hear!”
Also, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Mr Jibrin Okutepa, in a message on his Facebook wall, faulted Senator Melaye’s arraignment on a stretcher.
He said it was bad for Nigeria’s image.
Okutepa said the Police should have waited for the Senator to recover from his ailment before arraigning him.
To Okutepa, the manner Melaye was treated was humiliating and suggested that he was being persecuted.
He said: “I watched with keen interest the manner in which Senator Melaye is being arraigned on stretcher in courts. I’m not too sure this drama is not damaging our image as a nation.
“Senator Melaye needs to be well before answering to whatever allegations the state may have against him. What is so urgent in the allegations that cannot wait till he gets well?
“Whatever offence or offences he may have committed, the manner in which he is being wheeled from one court to the other suggests to me political persecution rather than criminal prosecution.
“One of the cardinal duties of the state is protection of life of its citizens. I think Senator Melaye deserves to be treated well before being dragged to courts to answer to the allegations against him.
“It is inhuman and inhumanity to man to continue treating him this way.”
Love or hate him, you cannot deny the huge talent of Dino Melaye, the rambunctious senator representing Kogi West in the National Assembly. Reputed for winning elections even when the odds are stacked against him, he has also proven that his talent extends to other spheres of human endeavour, including boxing, wrestling, music and acting.
He came into national consciousness as a member of the House of Representatives in 2007 when he provoked a free for all on the floor of the House as a member of the Integrity Group demanding the resignation of the then Speaker, Patricia Etteh. In the process, he had his dress torn into shreds. He has since followed up the incident with others like a verbal attack on Senator Oluremi Tinubu and his celebrated face-off with Omoyele Sowore of the online news medium, saharareporters.
Last week, he upped his game by treading on a terrain dreaded even by James Bond. Arrested by the police after weeks of manhunt, Melaye reportedly wriggled his huge frame through the window of a police vehicle that was conveying him from Abuja to Lokoja where he was billed to face trial for criminal conspiracy and illegal possession of firearms, diving unto the hard surface and injuring himself in the process. Seemingly embarrassed at the huge crowd the incident attracted, the police left the scene only to re-arrest him at a private hospital where he was reportedly taken by suspected thugs who were said to have blocked the police vehicle conveying the senator to Lokoja.
Events thereafter assumed a fast tempo, culminating in the senator’s arraignment, first in Abuja for attempted suicide, and then in Lokoja for gunrunning, illegal possession of firearms, criminal conspiracy, kidnapping and other offences. The judge in Lokoja court where he was arraigned on a stretcher declined Melaye’s request for bail and ordered that he be kept in prison custody until June 11 when he would be brought back to court.
Although the police have assured that the next time Melaye appears in court he will be as fit as a fiddle, it is hard to imagine the Senate without the man on whose pivot its engine rotates. Whether for his comic value or his skill at stirring up incidents when the upper chamber appears dull, the Senate without him will be nothing but drudgery. It is no surprise, therefore, that Senator Ben Murray-Bruce, a co-owner of Silverbird Galleria who knows the worth of the entertainment Melaye brings to the chamber, has been so concerned about the plight of the embattled senator. Melaye’s wellbeing is of so such importance to Murray-Bruce that he has taken it upon himself to do a minute by minute update on his condition in the hospital, at the police station and in the courts.
In one of his numerous posts on the internet, the Common Sense Senator, as Murray-Bruce is fondly called, volunteered an explained why Melaye had to jump off a moving vehicle. He said the senator had to jump off a moving vehicle because he was asthmatic and the police kept firing tear gas at him. Rather than hail Murray-Bruce for his brilliant account, some mischievous people say it is devoid of commonsense. The police, they insist, would not be so stupid as to throw tear gas canisters in a vehicle they boarded with Dino.
The interest Murray-Bruce has shown in Melaye’s matter is by no means an indication that he feels more concerned about him than does the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki; the man to whom Melaye has shown more commitment than his constituents. Indeed, his fawny adulation of the Senate President had been one of the reasons his constituents made moved for his recall from the Senate before they backed down at the critical stage of the exercise. The Senate President will surely be ruing life in the upper chamber without the man better known by many as his bodyguard. It is one of the ironies of life that Melaye, who has been escorting the Senate President in and out of court over his false asset declaration case, now has to shuttle between Abuja and Lokoja to attend to two different cases filed against him by the police.
Anyone who does not share a gene with Boko Haram or killer herdsmen would be moved by the sight of Melaye on a stretcher. But one must be honest to admit that in shunning the invitation the police extended to him, his conduct as a senator fell short of the expectations of reasonable people. With all his loquacious braggadocio, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode would not smirk at an invitation from the police. Neither would Melaye’s boss and Senate President, Saraki, spun such a summons.
Just two or three days ago, Shehu Sani, the senator representing Kaduna Central, posted a message on his Facebook wall, saying that he had just returned from honouring a police invitation in Kaduna State. That is a senator whose relationship with Governor Nasir El-Rufai is probably more strained than Melaye has with Governor Yaya Bello. But Sani, unlike Dino, would not latch on to it as an alibi to spun police invitation.
A Lokoja Chief Magistrates’ Court yesterday remanded Senator Dino Melaye and two others in police custody until June 11.
The others are Kabiru Seidu, 31, and Nuhu Salihu, 25.
They were arraigned on a seven-count charge of criminal conspiracy and unlawful possession of firearms.
This, according to the prosecution, is contrary to Section 97 (1) of the Penal Code and Section 27 (1) (a) (1) of the Firearms Act CAP P28, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004.
Melaye was brought to court in a police ambulance at about 9:17 a.m. He was immediately stretchered into the court by policemen.
Before his arrival, heavily armed policemen had taken positions within and outside the court.
His arrival attracted the attention of workers and others who came for transactions.
Also, reporters and others, who arrived in court earlier, were asked to go out for security checks.
Only few reporters were allowed back inside.
Before being brought to court, Melaye was first taken to the SARS headquarters near the NTA office in Lokoja.
Lead prosecution counsel, Dr. Alex Izinyon (SAN), urged the court to remand Seidu, and Salihu in police custody.
This, he said, was to assist the police in their investigations.
Izinyon pleaded that Melaye be remanded in prison custody because he is influential and could jeopardise investigation.
He noted that the minimum sentence upon conviction was 10 years imprisonment under the Firearms Act.
But Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), leading six other lawyers for the defendants, prayed the court to grant the senator bail.
He said the senator should be granted bail because he was asthmatic and needed medical attention.
Ozekhome said Melaye was on Wednesday granted bail by a court in Abuja in liberal terms and has been in police custody.
The senior advocate said it was discriminatory for the prosecution to ask the court to keep other defendants in police custody and the senator, remanded in prison custody.
“We can apply for bail for this traumatised senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria lying here before your worship on a stretcher.
“Melaye here is not charged with murder in this case; the senator, who is seen every day on the floor of the Senate making laws for the country, will stand his trial.
“To send him to prison is to encourage him to breach the bail condition granted him yesterday.
“I humbly urge my lord to grant bail in self-recognisance to the fourth defendant because he will not jump bail; he will stand his trial and meet the bail conditions,” he said.
Ruling, Senior Magistrate Sulyman Abdullah said the essence of bail was to secure the attendance of the defendant before a court of competent jurisdiction.
“However, this application is not granted as a matter of course. It is anchored upon certain well timed, honoured principles of the law that would guarantee the production and appearance of the defendant.
“The court, however, has a grave responsibility to exercise such discretion with utmost caution and to act within the accepted principles of administration of justice.
“Having gone through all the submissions of counsel in respect of this oral application, I decline to exercise my discretion in favour of the fourth defendant; the oral application is accordingly refused,” he said.
Abdullah ordered the Inspector-General of Police to furnish the senator with all medical needs. The case continues on June 11.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Jibrin Okutepa, has faulted the arraignment of Senator Dino Melaye on stretcher, saying it was bad for Nigeria’s image.
He said the police should have waited for the senator to recover from his ailment before arraigning him.
To Okutepa, the manner Melaye was treated was humiliating and suggested that the senator was being persecuted.
He said: “I watched with keen interest the manner in which Senator Melaye is being arraigned on stretcher in courts. I’m not too sure this drama is not damaging our image as a nation.
“Senator Melaye needs to be well before answering to whatever allegations the state may have against him. What is so urgent in the allegations that cannot wait till he gets well?
“Whatever offence or offences he may have committed, the manner in which he is being wheeled from one court to the other suggests to me political persecution rather than criminal prosecution.
“One of the cardinal duties of the state is protection of life of its citizens. I think Senator Melaye deserves to be treated well before being dragged to courts to answer to the allegations against him.
“It is inhuman and inhumanity to man to continue treating him this way.”
The embattled senator representing Kogi West Senatorial District, Dino Melaye, was on Thursday denied bail by the Senior Magistrate Court 2 sitting in Lokoja, Kogi State.
He is to be remanded in Police custody for the next 38 days pending the commencement of hearing in the suit brought by police against him and three others.
Ruling on the suit, Chief Magistrate Suleiman Abdulahi denied the bail application by Melaye’s counsel and ordered that he be kept in prison custody till June 11, 2018.
The Senator who was arraigned before the magistrate court on charges of gunrunning, kidnapping, and others through his lawyer, Mike Ozokome asked for bail.
The police counsel, Alex Isihon however argued for Melaye’s imprisonment pending the determination of the case.
He was brought to the court on stretcher by police at 9:15 a.m. on Thursday.
Melaye was arraigned for unlawful possession of prohibited firearms,, kidnapping, armed robbery, murder, political thuggery and other violent crimes in Kogi State.
Embattled Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West) was yesterday arraigned before a Magistrate’s Court in Wuse Zone 2, Abuja, for allegedly jumping out of a police vehicle.
He was accused, in a First Information Report (FIR), of destroying the side glass of a police vehicle and attempting to kill himself and jumping out of the vehicle.
He was also said to have resisted arrest.
The FIR reads: “On the 24th of April 2018, about 1330hrs at Area One roundabout Abuja, within the jurisdiction of the court, you Senator Dino Melaye of the Federal Republic of Nigeria while being conveyed in a Police White Hilux Bus with Registration number NPF 3354 D to Lokoja, Kogi State, to be arraigned in court for conspiracy and unlawful possession of prohibited firearms in charge Number CMCL/14SC/2018 filed at the Chief Magistrate Court Lokoja, you Senator Dino Melaye intentionally broke the side windscreen of the bus and jumped out of the bus after it was blocked by a Hilux Vehicle with registration number Kaduna MKA 603 GY occupied by your younger brother Samuel Melaye and one Barrister Amefula David Emeka and driven by yet to be identified person who escaped from the scene after the blockade.
“You Senator Dino Melaye after breaking the side windscreen attempted to kill yourself by jumping out of the bus and fell on the ground and thereafter started shouting that you want to kill yourself and implicate the police for your death.
“That police officers, who were escorting you in the bus tried to re-arrest you back to the bus, but you resisted further arrest with the help of your brother Samuel Melaye and some lawyers in your company and further threatened to injure the police officers if they try to further arrest you and you finally escaped from the scene in another Hilux vehicle.”
Melaye pleaded not guilty.
Dressed in a native attire, Melayewas brought to court in a police ambulance. The ambulance was marked: NPF2214D. He laid on the stretcher throughout the about one hour proceedings.
He was brought to court under heavy security. Entry and exit into the court premises was restrained by the heavily armed riot policemen, numbering about 200.
After Melaye’s plea, lead prosecuting lawyer, Alex Izinyon (SAN), sought date for trial.
Defence lawyer, Nkem Okoro, prayed the court to hear his client bail application.
Okoro argued that since his client was not charged with capital offence, he was entitled to bail.
He cited Section 162 of Administration of Criminal Justice (ACJ) Act, which sets out conditions to be considered before a bail application is granted or refused.
Iziyon objected to the bail application and urged the court to reject it.
Ruling, Magistrate Mabel Segun-Bello noted that bail is now liberalised under ACJA.
The magistrate said: “Taking a look at provision of Section 162 of ACJA, the prosecution counsel has not proven any reasonable apprehension that would warrant the court from denying the defendant bail.
“The prosecution counsel has placed nothing before the court to show why the defendant should not be granted bail.
“There is no evidence tendered before this court to substantiate the prosecution counsel’s claim that the defendant will jump bail.”
The magistrate said the prosecuting lawyer has not convinced the court as to how the defendant was likely to influence prosecution witnesses in the cause of his trial, if released on bail.
Mrs. Segun-Bello proceeded to grant Melaye bail at N90 million with two sureties in like sum.
The magistrate said one of the sureties must be a civil servant not lower than Great Level 14, and that the other must have easily identifiable residence in Abuja.
Mrs. Segun-Bello ordered that Melaye must deposit his international passport with the FCT Police Command.
She ordered the defendant to report at the Wuse police command every working day of the week until same is altered by the court.
The magistrate adjourned to June 6.
After the court’s proceedings, Melaye and his supporters remained in the courtroom for some hours, while his lawyer and others made frantic efforts to meet the bail condition.
Notable faces at the court with Melaye were Senators Ben Bruce (PDP, Bayelsa) and Abiodun Olujimi (PDP, Ekiti). The entrance to the courtroom was secured by about 10 riot policemen armed with AK47 rifles.
At about 4:20pm, Melaye was moved out of the courtroom, accompanied by the armed policemen, into the waiting ambulance.
The vehicle was immediately driven away by a policeman, followed by a long convoy of police vehicles, with siren blaring.
