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Again, Melaye cries out against the police

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Again, Melaye cries out against the police

Senator Dino Melaye has raised the alarm that his life is no longer safe with the Nigeria Police Force.

The lawmaker representing Kogi West Senatorial District, stated this at a press briefing in Abuja on Friday while also calling on the police to release his international passport as ordered by a Magistrate Court, Abuja.

According to the lawmaker, he mandated his lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, to retrieve the passport because of his belief that he would not be safe with the police, adding that all attempts to have the passport back had been frustrated.

It will be recalled that Melaye has been having a running battle with the police, who have arraigned him in different courts for various offences.

The lawmaker, who recently dumped the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress, APC for the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has also been up in arms against his state governor, Yahaya Bello, who he accused of unsuccessfully trying to orchestrate his recalled from the Senate.

The police, which had earlier arrainged him for gun running and providing false information to the police, recently docked him again for attempted suicide and escaping from lawful detention.

Melaye, while briefing reporters, said: “The same police have been looking for me to kill me. As I speak to you, I have six arraignments in six different courts for one frivolous charge or the other. No politician has been so humiliated in this country. Six arraignments! There is one by the Federal Government through the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and five by the Nigeria Police. The latest was on Wednesday last week; there was a fresh arraignment before an FCT High Court”.

Read Also: Ekweremadu narrates interaction with EFCC

Speaking on the non release of his passport, Melaye said: “The Magistrate’s Court, on July 25, gave an order that the police should release my passport. This is the copy of the order of the court asking the Nigeria Police to release my passport to me. We wrote the police that day giving them the copy of the order but the police refused to release it, (going) against the order of the court.

“We wrote another letter, saying that I had given the authority to my lawyer to collect it. They still refused to release it, only for the police to tell me that I should come personally and collect it, because they wanted to arrest me.

According to him, the police had earlier released his passport to his lawyer based on a letter of authority he sent to them when he had to travel abroad for medicals only to refuse this time around.

“The same police honoured that authority letter and released my passport and I travelled, and on the day I was to return it to the police, I returned it to them. So, there is already a precedence of the police honouring my authority to release my passport to my lawyer,” Melaye said.

The lawmaker, who alleged that the police said there is an order from above to seize his passport, insisted that the person who issued the order is not above the law.

 

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