Three persons arrested by the vigilante group of Lokoja local government area for alleged illegal tax collection have been arraigned before the Chief Magistrate Court 1, Lokoja.
The accused persons, Abba Emmanuel, Umar Abubakar, and Kingsley Dan’sebe were arraigned before Abdullahi Musa Mopa on Wednesday for the offences of criminal conspiracy, causing obstruction of public highway and extortion on the Lokoja–Abuja road.
The Police Prosecutor, G. O. Itowo said the vigilante group of Lokoja LGA brought the suspects to the police having caught them impersonating the Kogi State Internal Revenue Services.
He said the three suspects erected a roadblock along Lokoja – Abuja road for their illegal revenue collections.
He asked the court to read the First Information Report to the defendants to enable them to take their plea.
The trio of defendants denied the allegation leveled against them.
While the prosecuting counsel moved for a date to commence the hearing, counsel to the defendants, Muazu Abbas urged the court to grant the defendants bail.
Abbas, who premised his bail application on Section 36 (5) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and relevant section of Kogi criminal justice law, said the offences are triable by the magistrate court.
“The defendant has been in police custody since November 13, 2024. And we urged the court to consider the bail application. The defendants will furnish the court with reasonable and reliable sureties to prove they will be available for trial. The court in the overall interest of justice should approve the defendant to bail.”
The prosecutor who did not oppose the bail application said, “I however urged the court to tread on the path of caution, and judicially and judiciously look into the case before considering the bail application.”
The Magistrate after listening to the defendant’s counsel’s application for bail and the response of the prosecutor, granted bail to the three defendants, “Without much ado, that on the circumstances of this application, the interest of justice tilt towards the applicant.
“I hereby grant the defendants bail in the sum of N400,000 and a surety each in like sum. The surety must have a traceable address in Lokoja, and must not be less than a level 14 officer either at the federal or state parastatal. The surety must disclose their BVN and NIN to the court registrar.”
He adjourned the case to December 11, 2024 for further mention.
