Two cattle herders, Adamu Rabiu and Bello Tukur were on Tuesday remanded in prison on the orders of a Lokoja Chief Magistrates’ Court for allegedly robbing one Promise Eze of N24,000 and assorted drinks.
Levi Animoku of Lokoja Chief Magistrate Court I who gave the order in his ruling on arraignment of the accused, said there was high propensity for them to disappear and escape justice if granted bail.
Animoku said that aside the offence of armed robbery, being not ordinarily bailable, the herdsmen were nomadic by nature and of no fixed addresses as they moved from place to place seeking pasture for their cattle.
“I decline to admit the accused persons to bail. They shall be remanded at the Federal Prisons, Okene in Kogi State”, he said as he adjourned the case to October 20 for mention.
Earlier, the prosecuting Police Officer, Sgt. Tuesday Ganagana who read from the First Information Report (FIR), said Eze of Life Camp, Ajaokuta reported the matter to Ajaokuta Police station and the I-G Special Tactical Squad on special duty in Kogi.
According to Ganagana, Eze had alleged that on August 6, at about 8:30 pm, a gang of three masked men, armed with dangerous weapons, including guns, cutlasses and sticks criminally conspired and invaded the club house named Old German Club, Ajaokuta.
The prosecution held that the suspects robbed Eze of N24,000, carted away assorted drinks from her refrigerator and escaped to an unknown destination, but were arrested following “credible technical intelligence report” at a drinking joint.
Ganagana said that the police personnel in collaboration with operatives from the Tactical squad mobilized, raided the area and arrested two of the suspects later known and identified as Adamu Rabiu and Bello Tukur, while the rest ran away.
Counsel to both accused, A.O. Jonathan Esq. applied for bail of the accused pursuant to section 36(5) of the 1999 Constitution and section 341(2)(3) of the Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) emphasizing their innocence until proved otherwise.
The prosecutor, however, opposed the bail application on the ground that investigation into the matter was still on, aside the fact that as an offence that carried life imprisonment upon conviction, Section 298(c) of the Penal Code Law precludes granting of bail.
– NAN
