APC IN HOT WATER! #INEC Insists on Detention of 183 APC Members. *Detainees Granted Bail In Imo# The 183 detainees from Osun State arrested by the Imo State Police Command with fake voters’ cards yesterday regained their freedom when the Imo State Magistrate’s Court, Owerri granted bail. The suspects, mainly students and traders who were on transit to Anambra for the governorship election last Saturday, were arrested by the Police at Disney Hotel, Owerri where they were accommodated. The police arraigned them on a five-count charges which include unlawful assemblage, misdemeanour among others. They were paraded before newsmen at the Police Command Owerri as electoral offenders with a mission to move to Anambra on the day of the election to cause mayhem. While pleading on behalf of the accused persons, their counsel, Barr. Unche Onyeagocha regretted that the accused were kept under inhuman act and, therefore, should be granted freedom since the offence is a bailable one. He equally applied to the court to release the 13 buses with which they used for the journey as well as their belongings including their mobile phones. Onyeagocha pleaded with the court to be lenient considering the fact that the accused have been detained since last week, assuring of not doing anything to undermine their prosecution. In his argument, the leader of the legal team for the INEC, Emmanuel Ogbudu, opposed the application on the ground that if the accused persons were granted bail, it would be difficult to bring them back to the court whenever needed. Ogbudu, who equally opposed the application for the release of their buses, described the case as serious one. In her ruling, the Chief Magistrate, Onyewuotu Muareen, granted the application for bail to be signed by two sureties on the payment of N50,000 each, submission of two passport photographs, tax clearance, National ID Card, utility bills, national driver’s license and International passports. She said that already, the Owerri Prison is congested and cannot contain the number of the accused if remanded, adding that the offence committed by the accused carries imprisonment of between two months to one year. Meanwhile, the case has been adjourned to February 5, 2014 for hearing.
Posted on: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 10:34:09 +0000
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