The Chief Magistrate Court in Yaba, Lagos has granted
bail to #EndSARS campaigner, Eromosele Adene, after over one week
in custody.
Adene was forcefully ejected from his Lagos home by
over a dozen police officers on November 7, 2020 ahead of a planned
protest in Lagos.
The 27-year-old was subsequently transferred to the
Force Criminal Investigation Department at the Police Headquarters,
Abuja, on November 9, before he was returned to Lagos late on
Sunday, November 15, without any official explanations.
The Lagos State Police Command arraigned him before the
court on Monday, November 16, requesting that a remand request be
granted to keep the defendant in custody for an additional 30
days.
The presiding magistrate, O. A.
Salawu, adjourned ruling on the request till Tuesday.
When the hearing resumed, the case had been transferred
to another magistrate, Folarin Williams, who
listened again to the request of the prosecution team to remand
Adene in custody.
The defendant was accused of criminal incitement,
cyberstalking, provoking breach of public peace, and conduct likely
to cause the breach of peace.
The accusations were hinged on his call for a peaceful
demonstration in Lagos State despite the position of authorities
that demonstrations be suspended.
Adene’s lead counsel, Adesina
Ogunlana, described the application as a threat to the
fundamental rights of his client.
He said the defendant has the constitutional right to
call for a protest, and noted that he had not been accused of
calling for a riot.
He also noted that the Police have had enough time in
the 10 days Adene had been detained to investigate the case, and
argued that his client should not suffer for the slow speed of
authorities.
Ogunlana accused
the Police of trying to overreach on his client and on the
authority of the court.
This application should be rejected. The court
should not allow itself to be used to cover incompetence,” he
said.
While delivering her ruling, the magistrate said she
understood the state’s anxiety over peaceful protests getting out
of hand to snowball into anarchy, but that it’s not enough reason
to infringe on fundamental human rights. She ruled that Adene be
granted bail in the interest of justice.
The magistrate set bail at N1 million with two
sureties, both of whom must be tax payers, and one of them required
to own property in Lagos.
The court’s decision sent many in attendance at the
hearing into wild jubilation.
Dozens of people attended the hearing on Tuesday, with
heavy Police presence recorded.
More than eight vehicles filled with police officers
were deployed to the area surrounding the court, and some people
were initially denied entry.
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The militarised
affair was heavily criticised by those who had come to witness
proceedings, and numerous disagreements between the crowd and
security personnel delayed the commencement of the 9 am hearing for
two hours.
Adene’s family members were present in court and were
in high spirits both before and after the court’s ruling.
“We’re very happy,” his sister, Onome
Adene, told Pulse shortly after the court judgement.
His mother, Florence Adene, said the
decision was proof that truth always prevails and expressed
confidence that his bail conditions will be perfected
immediately.
She hailed the decision as victory for Nigerian youths
who she said should not feel intimidated.
Controversial arrest
Adene was arrested only two days after the Lagos State
Police Command announced that it would resist any attempts to stage
protests’either “peaceful” or violent’
The Lagos State Police Command has vowed to resist
any form of planned protest, procession or gathering under any
guise or nomenclature in Lagos State as the government and people
of Lagos still nurture the wounds of the recent Endsars violence
that wrecked havocs across the state,” the command said in the
November 5 statement.
Adene’s arrest
is believed to have been in connection with his call to stage a
protest in Lagos, a continuation of nationwide protests against
police brutality that kicked off in early October and culminated in
the deadly attack by soldiers on peaceful protesters in the Lekki
area of Lagos on October 20.
The crackdown escalated into a breakdown of law and
order in Lagos and across the country with many incidents of
looting and vandalism recorded, resulting into losses estimated in
billions of naira.
The devastation has strengthened the government’s
resolve to disallow any form of peaceful assembly guaranteed by the
constitution.
A day before Adene’s arrest in Lagos, six people,
including a journalist were arrested by the police during a
peaceful demonstration at the National Assembly complex in
Abuja.
The six were accused by authorities of criminal
conspiracy, unlawful assembly, public nuisance, and inciting public
disturbance.
They were remanded in custody by a Chief Magistrates’
court, and were only granted bail on Wednesday, November 11.
The post Court grants #EndSARS campaigner, Eromosele, N1 Million
Bail as Police Remand Request Fails appeared first from online sources and was reposted by the community on Retwtr.com
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