Melaye did not jump out of moving vehicle, witness tells court

A Prosecution witness told a Federal Capital Territory High
Court that Senator Dino Melaye did not jump out of a moving vehicle
on April 24, 2018.

A police driver with the Inspector-General of Police Special
Tactical Squad, Inspector Abana Mallum, while testifying, said,
“Anyone who said Melaye jumped out through the window, is a
liar.”

Melaye, who represents Kogi West senatorial district in the
National Assembly, is charged before Justice Sylvanus Oriji,
sitting in Apo, by the police on six counts bordering on attempted
suicide, attempt to escape from custody and damage of police
property.

He was said to have committed the alleged offence on April 24,
2018 while being conveyed by the police to Lokoja, Kogi State.

The police alleged that Melaye sat on the ground, holding a
substance in one hand, threatening to drink it in order to kill
himself and implicate police officers.

He was further alleged to have broken the windshield of the
vehicle in which he was being conveyed to Lokoja with his elbow and
caused damage to police property.

The offence, the prosecution said contravened the provisions of
sections 148,153,173,231, 326 and 327 of the Penal Code.

The witness made this known while being cross-examined by
counsel for Melaye, Benson Igbanoi, who held the brief for Dr Mike
Ozekhome, SAN.

He stated that the police team conveying Melaye to Lokoja took
off from the Abattoir office of the IGP squad and was intercepted
at the Area 1 roundabout in Abuja by a Hilux van.

Mallum, who was the second prosecution witness (PW2), informed
the court that the bus he was driving was blocked by an unknown van
and that someone in the bus forcefully opened the door.

He said Melaye was seated in the second row on the left side of
the vehicle.

The witness told the court that he did not see the senator
holding a gun when the bus was intercepted by the Hilux van.

Mallum, however told the court that Melaye held something in his
hand but he could not identify what it was.

“I don’t know where he got the thing from,” he said.

The police inspector further informed the court that the police
team chased the Hilux van and caught up with it at the Yar’Adua
Centre.

“We caught up with them near Yar’Adua Centre.

“Some of them ran into the bush behind the National Mosque. Only
one person was eventually arrested there.

“I don’t know the name of that person. I don’t know if that
person was charged to court for any offence. I don’t know how many
of them escaped; I only know one was arrested.

“Anyone who says three person were arrested, that person is
telling a lie,” Mallum told the court.

Meanwhile, Justice Oriji has adjourned till May 28, for the
continuation of hearing.

(NAN)

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Dapsy: The Benevolent Investigative
Journalist
By Yushau A. Shuaib

He walked in casually, sat calmly and was received warmly by the
audience. With cheerful demeanour, he cracked jokes, threw banters
and shared pleasantries with guests and participants who thronged
around him like bees in their nest.

It was on June 10, 2013, at 1.55pm when I was about to deliver a
paper at a Media Seminar organized by the Netherland Embassy in
Abuja. The participants were reporters, editors, and spokespersons
of critical institutions.

I watched as the man politely declined offers of a seat in the
front row and sat at the extreme end of the hall.

Since I hardly acknowledge the presence of dignitaries during my
presentation, when time is crucial, I didn’t bother to ask for the
identity of the new guest that was so loved in the hall.

While making the presentation, I noticed that he was very
attentive and kept on nodding in agreement and encouraging gesture
to my points.

During the question and answer session, he stood up and
commended the presentation. Surprisingly, other participants
including General Chris Olukolade, the then Director Defense
Information and Frank Mba, the Police Spokesperson whom I was
meeting for the first time made similar comments.

It was my first public lecture after I was forcefully retired
from the public service by the Federal Government of Nigeria.

The man walked up to me. He congratulated me for the paper and
introduced himself thus: “My name is Dapo Olorunyomi, I report for
Premium Times.”

I was not only shocked but felt embarrassed that I could not
recognize the face of the Publisher of the Premium Times that had
been publishing my articles, including the controversial piece that
put me in trouble with the then Finance Minister, Dr, Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala.

Though that day was the first time we were meeting, I had known
Dapo who is popularly called Dapsy as a thoroughbred investigative
and fearless journalist who was born in the ancient city of Kano on
November 8, 1957. I learned that he schooled in Zaria, Ilorin and
Ile-Ife for his primary school, secondary education, university
degree, and postgraduate programmes respectively, before obtaining
other certificates from the University of Oxford and the American
University.

A multi-award award-winning investigative journalist, Dapsy has
always been at the forefront of mainstreaming the practice of
investigative journalism in Nigeria towards exposing corruption,
regulatory failures, and human rights abuses.

His contribution to national development was felt during his
anti-corruption advocacy and public awareness campaign when he
served as Chief of Staff and Policy Director of the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

“We are sorry about your plight and predicament with the Finance
Minister after the publication of your article in Premium Times,”
Dapsy interrupted my thought as we shook hands.

“Pleasure meeting for the first time today sir. I have no regret
about my publications and thanks for publishing some of them,” I
responded.

“We are ready to defend you and provide our platforms for your
aspirations,” he added.

From that day, I became a regular contributor to the Premium
Times. In fact, one of my articles on the Media-Security
Relationship after the Seminar prompted the Office of the National
Security Adviser (ONSA) to invite me for a chat.

The chat with Colonel Sambo Dasuki, the National Security
Adviser, become a turning point in my life. Not only did Dapsy’s
Premium Times provide their platform for all the interventions and
PR stuff on national security, other media too were quite
generous.

Meanwhile, the encouragements on my first public lecture after
my retirement from the public service opened a floodgate of
subsequent presentations on Media Engagement, Social Media and
Crisis Management.

On a personal level, not only does he develop an interest in my
progress, but he also ensures my son who is a Mass Communication
graduate did an internship under his tutelage. He provides moral
and kind supports to the young man and other budding journalists
and writers in Nigeria towards promoting professional excellence in
journalism.

I am a Public Relations Practitioner rather than a journalist. I
have since realized that not only in a lottery, an effective media
coverage through strategic public relations can catapult a PR
person to an instant star due to the benevolence of a journalist
and the media fairness.

In a nutshell, Dapo Olorunyomi is a very humble and reliable
soul, who would go out of his way to extend kindness to others,
especially those in need of protection and such benevolence.

Yushau A. Shuaib, Author of “An Encounter with the
Spymaster” and Winner of Africa and International Public Relations
Awards contributes this essay in the book “Testimony to Courage-
Essays in Honour of Dapo Olorunyomi” which was launched on May 27,
2019