Court returns Abaribe to DSS custody, says arrest not its business

Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe was on Tuesday returned to the custody of the Department of State Service (DSS) after Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court Abuja refused ordering for his release.

Abaribe, who has remained in the custody of the DSS since he was picked up last week by the security operatives, appeared in court on Tuesday over the issue of the surety he signed for the missing leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.

The senator representing Abia South senatorial district has however requested Justice Nyako to order for his release from the custody of the DSS.

But the judge denied the request on the grounds that the senator’s arrest and detention had nothing in connection with the suretyship for Kanu.

Abaribe and two other persons had stood as surety for Kanu when Justice Nyako in April last year, granted him bail over alleged treasonable felony.

However, since the Nigerian soldiers allegedly invaded his home in Umuahia Abia State in September 2017, Kanu has remained missing.

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Following that development, Abaribe and the other sureties had since October 17, 2017, when Kanu was to appear in court for the continuation of his trial been struggling with the burden to produce him in court.

Recall that Justice Nyako had on March 28, 2018, ordered the senator and the two other sureties to appear in court to show cause why they should not forfeit their bail bonds worth N100 million each, or be imprisoned for their inability to produce the IPOB leader in court.

 

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