– Advertisement –
Magistrate Court 7, in Moore Road Calabar, Cross River State, has granted environmental activist and Director of the Rainforest Resources and Development Centre (RRDC), Odey Oyama, bail.
Odey was on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, granted bailed alongside four others allegedly accused and arrested by the Cross River State Police Command of instigating native war in Effi Community.
They were arrested in Ikom on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, detained and charged to court by the Police in Calabar.
In case No MC/ 20C/2025, the presiding judge, Magistrate Okoho Bassey, ruled that the court is enjoined to protect the rule of law and the right of the citizen especially when guilt is not established. She, therefore, granted bail to the defendant; with a bail condition of N5 million and two sureties.
While she ruled that the prosecutor did not act in good faith, the Judge said when a case is brought before a magistrate court for the purpose of remand, it must comply with section 290 sub section 1 and 2 of Cross River State Administration of Criminal Justice Law, that in the instant case, only the charge was brought with no case file and motion.
“I’m careful not to strike out this case even though it is incompetent before me,” she stated.
Earlier while presenting his case, the Defense Counsel, Ntufam Sunny Mgbe, citing section 136 and 160 sub section 1 of Cross River State Administration of Justice Law, argued that a case of such nature should not have been brought to the magistrate court since it does not have the jurisdiction over a case that attracts a capital punishment.
Mgbe pleaded to the court to either strike out the case or grant the defendant bail, citing section 136 and 160 sub section 1 of the state justice law
But the Prosecuting Counsel, O. U. Ubi in his argument pleaded to the court not to strike the case or grant bail to the defendant, stating that the court has the jurisdiction over the case upon citing section 101 sub section 1 and 2 and section 102 of the state criminal justice law.
The court, however, granted bail to the defendant and four others, namely, Alobi Ofuka, Ogbeshi Opene, Samuel Agbor and Konye Eka. The court was adjoined till February 7, 2025.
It will be recalled that some civil society organisations on Tuesday called for the immediate release of Oyama, saying his arrest and detention by the Nigerian Police signifies a rising trend of abuse and repression.
The Executive Director of PADIC, formally known as Development Concerns (DEVCON), Dr, Martins Egot, and Director of PeacePoint Development Foundation (PPDF), Mr. Umo Isuaiko, described his arrest and detention as deliberate to keep him incommunicado.
In a statement by the Executive Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Comrade Nnimmo Bassey, Egot of DEVCON, Isuaiko of PPDF, Ken Henshaw of We the People (WTP) and 28 others said it was against the law for Odey to be detained beyond 24 hours without trial and “the action of the Nigeria Police has once again demonstrated flagrant disregard for due process and their role in stifling dissenting voices, especially when vested business interests are at stake”.
They said: “This instance, Odey Oyama a conscientious objector to the destruction of the environment, rather than enjoy the protection of the government, is being systematically persecuted.”
By Stina Ezin
