KINGSLEY EBERE
Respite may have come the way of Ezendigbo of Ajao Estate, Eze Fredrick Nwajiagu, as the Yaba Magistrate Court has granted him bail after he was brought from Ikoyi Correctional Centre, where he had spent 30 days without bail in Lagos State.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that the Presiding Magistrate, Mr. P. E. Nwaka, granted Eze Nwajiagu bail in the sum of #N1m with four responsible sureties in like sum, who must be resident in Lagos State.
The Court also ordered that one of the sureties must own a property in Lagos, which must be registered with the Land Bureau and whose documents must be deposited with the Court.
Before Nwajagu was granted bail by the Court, the Prosecution had made an oral application to the effect that the remand order of the Court still subsists, pending the receipt of the DPP’s advice.
However, Counsel to the defendant, Nkechi Agubuzor, argued that the Court has a duty to balance the cause of justice and same should be exercised judiciously. She sought the Court’s permission to move her oral application for the bail of her client.
While noting that the DPP’s advice had not been received, the Court also noted that no acknowledgement had come from the DPP’s office on the matter.
Following the oral application of the defendant’s counsel, the Magistrate, Nwaka, granted the defendant bail while waiting for the report of the DPP’s advice, which will determine if the matter will be transferred to the High Court or not over jurisdiction.
The 67-year old Nwajiagu was docked before the Court for allegedly threatening to bring the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to the State, which followed his arrested on 1st April, 2023, over a viral video, in which he threatened to invite IPOB members to Lagos to secure properties of Igbo people living in the state.
At the last sitting, the Police charged him on 5th April, 2023, on a two-count charge of conspiracy and conduct likely to cause a breach of public peace.
The Police prosecutor, SP Thomas Nurudeen, told the Court that the Eze Ndigbo and some others at large committed the offences on March 26 at No. 2, Akeem Shitu Street, Ajao Estate, Lagos State.
He alleged that Nwajiagu instilled fear into Lagos residents when he threatened to bring IPOB to the state. Nwajiagu was also said to have publicly stated that IPOB would shut Lagos State for one month.
According to Nurudeen, the alleged offences contravened Sections 168 (d) and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
Being a remand proceeding to ensure lawful detention, the plea of the defendant was not taken at that proceeding.
The Court simply ordered the remand of the defendant at the Ikoyi custodial facility for 30 days pending the legal advice of the State’s Director of Public Prosecution, DPP.
The matter was adjourned pending the outcome of the DPP’s advice while the defendant will remain in custody pending when he will perfect his bail conditions.