Security agent slaps A’Ibom ACN gov candidate

There was confusion at a Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday as a security operative slapped the governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria in Akwa Ibom State, Mr. John Akpanudoedehe, in the open court few minutes after he was granted bail over treason charge by Justice Adamu Bello. The ACN candidate had been under police custody since March 25 when he was arraigned by the police on a four-count charge of alleged treason. But in his ruling on Akpanudoedehe’s bail application, Justice Bello held that the police had failed to establish a nexus linking him with the charge of treason. The judge further held that the police did not deny the claims of Akpanudoedehe, which cleared him from the offence other than embarking on a general denial, which was tantamount to acceptance in law. But immediately the judge granted him temporary freedom, Akpanudoedehe was re-arrested and whisked away for undisclosed reasons at about 2.45pm while in the process of perfecting his bail conditions. Before this development, he was assaulted and slapped in the hallowed chambers of the court by plain-clothes security agent. Although details of the incident were sketchy, our correspondent learnt that Akpanudoedehe received the slap while perfecting his bail conditions. The security personnel was said to have dragged him with a view to whisking him away while the ACN candidate resisted the move, saying he was yet to perfect his bail conditions. But the assault degenerated to an open confrontation between supporters of the ACN governorship candidate and the security operatives, who were said to have claimed to be acting on “the orders from above.” Justice Bello had granted bail to the ACN candidate in the sum of N10m with a surety in the like sum. The judge added that the surety must be a responsible citizen with a landed property within the jurisdiction of the court. He was also directed to write an undertaking not to breach the peace of not only the state but also of the nation, failing which his bail would be revoked. But the court said in the event that he failed to meet the bail conditions, he should be remanded in prison. Justice Bello said by the general denial, the police had admitted that as at the time Akpanudoedehe was arrested and charged to court, the force did not have any charge against him. He said, “What the police have done was to charge the accused person with grievous charge of treason why they go out and fish for evidence to nail him. “I think the modus operandi cannot find a place in our law. The onus is only on the party who alleges a commission of a crime to produce evidence linking the accused with the crime. “The state should at all times be able to file a proof of evidence to enable the court have sufficient materials to show whether there is a prima facie case against an accused person.” Citing the case of Sulaiman v C.O.P Plateau State (2008), Justice Bello emphasised the importance of a proof of evidence especially in a capital offence. The judge said, “An accused charged with murder, there must be sufficient materials contained in the proof of evidence. A case of murder cannot be camouflaged to punish the accused. The court has powers to remove the veil and discharge the person. “It is not enough to parade treason and oppose a bail application. From the foregoing, the lack of proof of evidence by the complainant to link the accused with the offence is sufficient grounds to refuse the objections. I therefore admit the accused person to bail in the sum of N10m.” Few hours after being granted bail, there was an uproar in court as the policemen, who laid siege to the court premises, surged into the courtroom to re-arrest Akpanudoedehe and in the process, an officer slapped him. Reacting to the assault, one of the lawyers to Akpanudoedehe, Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN), said the public must resist this form of injustice as an injustice against one was injustice against all. He said, “Those who were perpetrating this form of injustice five years ago are the same people facing similar ordeal today.” Akpanudoedehe was charged with attempting to overrun Governor Godswill Akpabio by allegedly discharging several gunshots at him and his entourage while he was performing his official assignment, insisting that he should be punished in-line with the express provisions of section 37 (1) of the Criminal Code Act Cap ‘C’ 38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004. By Friday Olokor, Abuja Courtesy Of: Punch