A Nasarawa State Magistrates’ Court in Lafia on Wednesday slashed the bail conditions of the 38 persons arrested in connection with a protest against the Supreme Court judgment, which affirmed the election of Governor Abdullahi Sule.
The magistrate, Mohammed Abdullahi-Lanze, had last Thursday granted them N2m bail each but they remained in custody as they were unable to meet the bail conditions.
As of Wednesday, they had spent 13 days in the Lafia Correctional Centre.
The police charged the 38 protesters with conspiracy, unlawful assembly and disturbance of public peace, by setting up a fire.
As part of the bail conditions granted them last week, the magistrate said they must each provide a surety who will be a civil servant not below the rank of director working under the federal or state government.
But at the resumed trial on Wednesday, their lawyer, Ayiwulu Baba-Ayiwulu, appealed to the court to reduce the bail conditions, saying it had been difficult for them to get up to 38 directors in the state to secure their bail.
Following the plea, the magistrate, Abdullahi-Lanze, reviewed their bail, by slashing the bond from N2m to N500,000 for each defendant.
As opposed to a director in the civil service, the magistrate said they should each get “a reasonable surety staying within the jurisdiction of the court,” adding that the surety must submit their passport photograph and sign a bail bond of N500,000.
He therefore ruled that the defendants must be present in court at the next adjourn date, February 27, 2024.
Speaking with Journalists after the court’s rulling, the defence counsel , Baba-Ayiwulu, expressed happiness with the verdict of the court, adding that the new bail conditions were reasonable enough for the defendants.
“The new bail conditions are reasonable. I am optimistic that they (defendants) would be out of the Lafia Custodian Centre before the end of today because a lot of people are willing to stand as their sureties,” he said.
It would be recalled that the Nigeria Police Force had on January 19, 2024 arrested the suspected protesters for allegedly blocking the Lafia/Jos road after the Supreme Court judgment which affirmed Governor Abdullahi Sule’s election victory.
According to the police, the suspects comprising 30 women and eight men were also arrested for breeching a peace agreement signed by the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress in the state ahead of the Supreme Court judgment.
