Police arraign Imo lawmaker for alleged assault

Police on Monday arraigned at the Owerri Magistrate Court a lawmaker representing Ohaji Egbema State Constituency in the Imo State House of Assembly, Hercules Okoro, for alleged assault.

Okoro, a member of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), was arraigned on an eight-count charge of alleged assault with intent to wound.

The lawmaker, however, pleaded not guilty to all the charges leveled against him.

The counsel to the defendant, Mr. Amandibuogu Osondu, argued that the offence was bailable, adding that Okoro’s continued detention was against justice.

He urged the court to grant the defendant bail since he had been in detention for three days.

READ ALSO: Imo lawmaker tests positive for COVID-19, Assembly shut down

The prosecuting counsel, Mr. T Okee, however, asked for more time to study the case file.

Magistrate D.V. Okoroji ordered that the lawmaker be remanded at a correctional centre in the state pending the hearing on his bail application.

He advised the prosecuting and the defending counsels to exchange briefs on Tuesday and adjourned hearing in the matter till November 18.

Okoro was arrested on November 13 following a violent altercation between him and the Deputy Speaker of the House, Amarachi Iwuanyanwu.

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