Twelve accused persons who pelted stones and other dangerous weapons on the Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, at the Lokoja Central Mosque, last week, were yesterday granted bail by a Lokoja Chief Magistrate’s Court.
The governor was allegedly stoned by some unknown irate youth at the Lokoja Central Mosque last week Friday, in which some youth and an elderly man were arrested by the police.
The accused persons, according to the Police First Information Report (FIR), Ibrahim Salisu Bature and 11 others, who were arrested in connection with the assault on the governor, were charged for criminal conspiracy; attempt to commit homicide, as well as belonging to armed robbery gang and cultism before the chief magistrate.
But the accused persons, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges. In his oral application for bail, lawyer to the accused persons, Mr. Salihu Abdulmalik, pleaded with the court to grant his clients bail on the ground that the governor was never a complainant in the first place.
“Governor Yahaya Bello, whose name appeared in FIR was not a complainant in this case, more so, the name of the governor’s Chief Detail does not appear in the police report,” Abdulmalik added.
Abdulmalik, who described the FIR as a reporters’ note, said the allegations before the court were grounded on malice which had political undertone.
He further prayed the court to jettison the submissions of the prosecuting witness, and subsequently admit the suspects on bail.
In his ruling, the Chief Magistrate, Mr. Levi Animoku, granted the accused persons bail since there was no complant in the police report.
“I am of the opinion that the case before me has no complainant. I read in the newspapers and social media where the state governor and his aides denied that the governor was stoned at the Lokoja Central Mosque,” he said.
He, therefore, granted the accused persons bail and further adjourned the case till September 15, 2016.
