A Magistrate Court in Lafia on Thursday granted bail to the 38 protesters arrested by the police in Nasarawa State for alleged conspiracy, unlawful assembly and causing a disturbance.
The protesters were arrested by the Police on January 19th for blocking Lafia/Jos road after the Supreme Court judgment that affirmed the victory of Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State.
The police said the protesters comprising, eight men and 30 women, had violated the peace accord signed by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and All Progressives Congress, APC, ahead of the Supreme Court judgment
The magistrate, Mohammed Abdullahi-Lanze, granted the defendants bail after hearing the bail application filed by their counsel.
But the defendants must each get a surety not below the position of a director with the state or federal Civil Service, who must reside within the jurisdiction of the court.
The Magistrate also directed that each surety must submit his or her identity card, N2 million, letter of first appointment and statement of account to the court
He adjourned the case to the 27th of February for hearing and directed that all the defendants must be present in court on the date.
The Nasarawa State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General, Labaran Magaji, who earlier took over as the prosecuting counsel, withdrew all the three counter applications.
The counter applications had been filed by the police who were prosecuting the matter before it was taken over by the Attorney-General.
Magaji said the offences committed by the defendants were bailable and as such, the state had withdrawn the counter applications to save the time of the court
(C) ControlTV 2024.
