Ibom Air Flight Passenger, President-elect’s Rival, Denied Bail On Mental Grounds

• A passenger onboard an Ibom Air flight, who is an adversary of the President-elect, has been denied bail.

• The court denied his bail application due to concerns over his mental capacity, and ordered that he be taken to a government hospital for assessment before further proceedings.

• He is currently being held at the Kuje Correctional Centre.

EKO HOT BLOG reports that an adversary of the President-elect, who was onboard an Ibom Air Abuja-Lagos bound flight last Friday, Obiajulu Uja has been denied bail.

A Magistrate Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), on Tuesday, denied his bail application.

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According to his counsel, Senior Magistrate Mohammed Abdulazeez Ismail, sitting at Zuba, Abuja, said the bail application was premature.

Ismail held that the exhibits attached to the application did not say the defendant was unfit to fail trial but rather indicated he was of unsound mind.

He also held that even though the constitution guarantees every person’s liberty, a court can deprive a person of their liberty based on health grounds.

Citing the provisions of Section 35(1)(e) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and Section 278 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, the Magistrate held that Uja cannot be granted bail.

Ismail held that where the mental capacity of a defendant is an issue, the court has the duty to ascertain the medical situation of such a defendant, adding that the exhibits attached to Uja’s bail application raised the issue of his medical capacity.

He subsequently turned down the bail application and ordered that Uja be held at the Kuje Correctional Centre of Nigerian Correctional Service.

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Uja was then asked to be taken to a government hospital by the head of the centre to ascertain mental capacity.

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