The Kogi State High Court sitting in Lokoja on Wednesday granted bail to Senator Dino Melaye (APC-Kogi West) in the sum of N10million. Melaye’s counsel, Mike Ozekhome (SAN) had told the court that the continued incarceration of his client will jeopardise his health condition, which he said was “deteriorating.”
Ozekhome also said that there was nothing to show that the applicant would jump bail if granted. The presiding judge, Justice Nasiru Ajanah granted the senator’s bail in his ruling on the application based on the lawmaker’s health challenge. Justice Ajanah described the medical report of the lawmaker as a merit factor to grant the bail application.
Three weeks after being held in police custody, the judge, however, ordered Melaye to provide a surety in the like sum. He also ordered that the international passport of the surety be domiciled with the court.
Senator Melaye is being charged by the police for allegedly arming deadly criminal gangs and convening a political rally that ended with the death of at least one attendee. Earlier, the police said they had arrested suspects who confirmed that Melaye had provided arms and financial support to them.
The lawmaker has since denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty to the charges levelled against him. He had, however, claimed that his ordeal was mainly because of his outspoken stance against the alleged impunity of the Kogi state governor, Yahaya Bello
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