2 months ago
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The 10 activists arraigned by the Federal Government last week in connection with the recent #Hunger or #EndBadGovernance protest are struggling to meet the N10m bail granted to each of them by the court.
One of the defence counsel, Deji Adeyanju, told The PUNCH on Sunday that the activists remain in prison five days after being admitted to bail because they were having difficulties meeting the bail conditions.
The PUNCH reports that the 10 activists were arraigned last Wednesday before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The defendants are Michael Adaramoye, also known as Lenin, Adeyemi Abayomi, Suleiman Yakubu, Opaluwa Simon, Angel Innocent, Buhari Lawal, Mosiu Sadiq, Bashir Bello, Nurudeen Khamis, and Abduldalam Zubair.
They were arraigned on six counts bordering on treason, intent to destabilise Nigeria, conspiracy to commit felony, and inciting to mutiny, punishable under Section 97 of the Penal Code.
They pleaded not guilty to the charges after their counsel applied for bail.
In his ruling, Justice Nwite said he was inclined to admit the defendants to bail because “the defendants/applicants have shown in their proof of evidence that the defendants/applicants are just protesters.”
The judge granted each of them N10m bail with one surety in like sum. The judge said the surety must be an Abuja-based property owner, willing to deposit the title document with the court, and must also swear to an affidavit of means.
The judge ordered that the defendants and their sureties must deposit their passports and three recent passport photographs with the court registrar.
Giving an update on the matter in an interview with our correspondent on Sunday, Adeyanju, who represents the 6th, 7th, and 8th defendants, said many of them were having difficulty meeting the bail conditions.
Also, counsel for the 1st, 2nd, and 4th defendants, Marshall Abubakar, explained that the defendants were still in prison because some of them were finding it difficult to meet the bail conditions.
He said, “We are having difficulty perfecting the bail of some. We have got sureties for about four.
“We filed an application for variation in respect of the other six because we haven’t got sureties for them that could meet the condition of a landed property in Abuja.”
