A Magistrate Court in Zuba, Abuja has declined a bail grant to the passenger debarked and handed over to the Police for making a sensitive statement about President-elect, Bola Tinubu onboard an Ibom Air Abuja-Lagos bound flight.
The air passenger identified as Obiajulu Uja, filed a bail application through his counsel, however, Senior Magistrate Mohammed Abdulazeez Ismail, sitting in Zuba, Abuja, held that the application was premature because the exhibits attached to the application did not say the defendant was unfit to fail trial but rather indicated he was of unsound mind.
He also held that while the constitution guarantees every person’s liberty, a court can deprive a person of their liberty based on health grounds.
Citing the provisions of Section 35(1)(e) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and Section 278 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, the Magistrate held that Uja cannot be granted bail.
The Senior Magistrate held that where the mental capacity of a defendant is an issue, the court must ascertain the medical situation of such a defendant.
He fury added that the exhibits attached to Uja’s bail application raised the issue of his medical capacity.
He subsequently turned down the bail application and ordered that Uja be held at the Kuje Correctional Centre of Nigerian Correctional Service.
He further ordered that the head of the center take the defendant to a government hospital to ascertain his mental capacity.
Meanwhile, the case has been adjourned until April 20 for a report and hearing.
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