Court grants ‘chief suspect’ in Sugar’s murder bail

An Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan on Thursday granted bail to a ‘chief suspect’ in the March 9 murder of a serving federal lawmaker, Temitope Olatoye popularly called Sugar.

Sugar, a member of the House of Representatives from Lagelu/Akinyele constituency, was murdered during the governorship and the House of Assembly elections.

His remains were interred last Friday in Ibadan, the state capital.

Following his death, about five suspects including a serving member of the state House of Assembly from Akinyele, Olafisoye Akinmoyede were arrested and taken to Abuja and kept ‘under protective custody’.

But Akinmoyede through Gus counsel, Michael Lana approached Justice Moshood Abass and sought to enforce the fundamental human rights of the house whip, over prolonged detention.

Lana had urged the court to declare the continued detention of his client in police custody in Abuja as unlawful and a violation of his fundamental human rights.

He urged the court to grant bail to his client pending the arraignment of his client at the court of law.

Meanwhile, the counsel for the respondent, the Commissioner of Police, was absent at the hearing.

The presiding judge, Justice Abass, said that he considered the action of the police as arrogant, unlawful and unconstitutional.

Abass said that all actions of the police must be seen to have justification in law and the fundamental right of the applicant must not be restrained by any technicality.

The judge said that the practice of the police making an arrest before an investigation was not proper.

“The power of the police to arrest and detain is not in doubt but the constitution stipulates that any person detained must be arraigned within 24hours.

“The remand order obtained by the police from an Iyaganku Magistrate court had expired since April 4 and detaining the applicant beyond this period is flagrant disobedient to the constitution.

“Obedient to court order should be the responsibility of all who believe in the stability of Nigeria,” the judge said.

The judge also held that the police had not provided any justification that would warrant the court not to grant bail to the applicant.

In his ruling, the judge held that the applicant should be granted bail with a surety who is blood relation with landed property worth N50 million among others.

The judge said that the other surety should be a civil servant with grade level 14 or member of the state House of Assembly or Federal.