Days after alleged transfer of the case involving Senator Dino Melaye from a Kogi State High Court to the nation’s capital, Abuja, controversy has again been ignited after audible complaints began emanating from both court officials in Lokoja, the state capital and high ranking police officers both in the state and national headquarters.
The allegation, this time, is that undue influence was brought to bare on the judiciary to have the matter transferred to Abuja after the senator was serially quoted as insisting that he should not be tried in Lokoja, his state capital, whose governor, Yahaya Bello, has been at loggerheads with. It was gathered that the case file was surreptitiously transferred to Abuja from Lokoja without judiciary and police officers being aware of it.
It was further learnt that the decision was influenced by top echelon of the federal highcourt which took the intervention of presidency to douse the tension.
It will be recalled that on January 19 2018, the Police arrested two men, Kabiru Seidu, aka Osama, and Nuhu Salisu, aka Small, who allegedly confessed to kidnapping and armed robbery. They also alleged in their confessions that Senator Melaye and another influential politician from Kogi State had given them guns, ammunitions and undisclosed amounts of money to work for them as political thugs in the forthcoming elections.
The Federal High Court, Lokoja set a 28th March date for the arraignment of Melaye and the other suspects. However, by a letter dated 26th March, 2018, signed by his counsel, Rickey Tarfa, SAN, Senator Melaye applied for the transfer of the case out of Lokoja, alleging threats to his person. But on 28th of March, 2018, the matter was set for a later date of 10, May.
Interestingly, the Police still believing that the case was at Lokoja filed an Ex-parte Motion asking the Court to amongst other things set aside its ruling adjourning the matter to 10th May, 2018 for arraignment and set an earlier date for the arraignment of the accused persons. At the hearing of the ex-parte motion on Thursday in Lokoja, Justice P.M Ayua while declining to hear the motion informed the Prosecution that the case file had been transferred to Abuja, hence the application should be filed in Abuja.
Prosecutor who was visibly stupified, expressed his displeasure with the manner of the transfer. He explained that the Police was never consulted before or informed of the transfer.
