Senator Dino Melaye was yesterday arraigned before an Abuja High Court sitting in Apo over allegation that he attempted to kill himself by jumping out of a vehicle conveying him to Lokoja to face criminal trial.
Melaye was, in the charge endorsed by the Inspector General of Police, alleged to have escaped from custody, after he broke the glass on the second window of a Police bus, using his left elbow and jumped into a white Toyota Hilux with number plates Kaduna MKA 603GY. According to the Police, his action amounted to an offence punishable under Section 327 of the Penal Code.
Meanwhile, Melaye pleaded not guilty to the six-count charge the Police entered against him, even as his lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome(SAN), applied for his release on bail pending trial. Ozekhome, who drew the attention of the court to the fact that his client was previously granted bail on the same charge by an Abuja Chief Magistrate’s Court, said the lawmaker will be available to face his trial. The bail application was not opposed by Police lawyer, Dr. Alex Iziyon(SAN), who left the issue to the discretion of the court. Consequently, trial Justice Silvanus Oriji who sat as a vacation judge, granted the defendant N5 million bail with two sureties in like sum. The court stressed that one of the sureties must be a director in the federal civil service and resident in Abuja. Justice Oriji, who also ordered that the sureties depose to an affidavit of means, said Melaye should be remanded in prison custody in the event that he failed to meet the bail conditions.
