Politics
Why Melaye jumped out of police vehicle- Ozekhome
Lawyer to embattled Senator Dino Melaye, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), has confirmed that the senator jumped out of a police vehicle, providing reasons for the action.
He said the Kogi West senator jumped out of the police vehicle because he did not want to die.
Ozekhome disclosed this at a High Court in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, on Monday.
The police had arrested the lawmaker and was conveying him to court when the incident occurred.
Justifying the action of his client, Ozekhome said he was teargassed.
”The truth of the matter is that initially, the police told Melaye that they would take him to a high court in Abuja for prosecution but the police suddenly decided to head to Lokoja and Melaye said while they were in the vehicle, the police tear-gassed him twice,” Ozekhome said.
“Melaye protested against why they were taking him to Lokoja instead of Abuja. So, as soon as the vehicle carrying Melaye came to a standstill at Area One intersection roundabout, Melaye forced the door of the vehicle open and jumped down because he was gasping for breath and he did not want to suffocate and die.
”Again, when Melaye jumped from the bus and started shouting, the people around that area and his lawyers sympathised with him and took him to a medical centre in Abuja where the police again came and bundled him to the National Hospital in Abuja, where they chained him to his bed like a common criminal.
Read also: Bid to bail Melaye fails
“The question is if someone has the plan to jump bail, he will not allow himself to be in the hospital, he will run to his village or can even run out of the country.”
The High Court in Kogi State has fixed May 10 to hear Melaye’s bail application.
Last week, the police arraigned him at a magistrate court in the state on charges of arming two suspects for kidnapping and robbery. The court remanded him in police custody.
The bail application by Ozekhome was denied by Suleiman Abdulahi, the magistrate, who ruled that the senator spend five weeks in custody.
However, Nasir Ajanah, Chief Judge of the state, ordered that the senator be taken back to the National Hospital, Abuja, following an application for bail.
RipplesNigeria… without borders, without fears
Click here to join the Ripples Nigeria WhatsApp group for latest updates.
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...