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How Senator ended up unconscious in a hospital after escaping from SARS with help from thugs

The lawmaker initially surrendered to police officers before staging an escape and ending up in a hospital.

The lawmaker had been arrested earlier on Tuesday when he surrendered to officers after months of refusing to honour invitations to report at the Kogi State Police Command for questioning. He turned himself in and was taken to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) Headquarters in Guzape, Abuja.

In a statement signed by the Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Aremu Adeniran, in Abuja, he said Melaye surrendered himself to officers to "answer to criminal indictments levelled against him in a case of criminal conspiracy and unlawful possession of prohibited firearms, kidnapping, armed robbery, murder, political thuggery and other violent crimes in Kogi state."

The arrest happened months after Melaye's current ordeal started with the arrest of criminals in Kogi.

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After Kabiru Saidu, a.k.a Osama, and Nuhu Salisu, aka Small, were arrested at Ogojueje in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi on January 19, 2018, they confessed to the police that Senator Melaye hired them to cause unrest in the state ahead of the 2019 general elections.

The criminal suspects revealed that the lawmaker handed them a bag containing one AK-47 rifle, two pump action guns and the sum of N430,000 to recruit hardened troublemakers and unleash mayhem in Kogi.

The police first requested Melaye's presence in a letter addressed to Senate President, Bukola Saraki, dated March 2, 2018, urging him to report to the Police on March 7 to answer to the criminal offences levelled against him, but he refused the invitation, alleging that the police was colluding with the Kogi state government to cause him harm.

He was officially declared wanted by the police on March 28, the day he was due to be arraigned in court over the charges of criminal conspiracy and unlawful possession of prohibited firearms alongside OsamaandSmall who both escaped from their prison cell. Both of them were rearrested before April 1, but the lawmaker refused to honour the invitation from authorities unless the case was transferred to the Abuja Police Command.

NIS stopped Melaye from travelling abroad

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While attempting to travel to Morocco for an official engagement on Monday, April 23, Melaye was arrested by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. The operatives seized his international passport to prevent him from leaving the country.

According to the police, the lawmaker snatched his seized passport from NIS operatives and retreated to his house in Maitama, Abuja, where police officers later laid siege into the early hours of Tuesday.

Early on Tuesday, he announced that he would pay a visit to police authorities after his police escorts were withdrawn.

After his arrest, media reports indicated that Melaye would be transported to Lokoja, Kogi's capital, to be paraded with other suspects who are involved with him in the case.

On Tuesday afternoon, news reports alleged that the lawmaker had jumped off a moving police vehicle to stop an attempt by SARS officers to transport him to Kogi state where he has always said he fears for his life.

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Further reports indicated that the lawmaker had been rushed to the Zankli Medical Center in Mabuchi district of Abuja to be treated for injuries sustained in his jump; but, curiously, he was without security escort.

Thugs helped Melaye escape - Police

According to a statement signed by Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Jimoh Moshood, Melaye had briefly escaped from police officers on Tuesday with help from hoodlums.

The police spokesperson said unidentified thugs blocked the path of the police vehicle conveying Melaye, which prompted the lawmaker to jump out of the vehicle through the window and escape with the hoodlums.

The statement read, "At about 12pm of today (Tuesday) Sen. Dino Melaye while in lawful custody of the Nigeria Police Force and being taken for arraignment in Federal High Court Lokoja, from Abuja, escaped from lawful custody when hoodlums and miscreants in Two (2) Toyota Hilux Vehicles blocked the Police vehicle conveying Senator Dino Melaye around Area 1 Round About, Abuja and in the process the Senator jumped out of the Police vehicle through the window and was rescued from the Police men by hoodlums and miscreants to an unknown destination."

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The Senator resurfaced at the in an ambulance, apparently unconscious, around 4:25pm and was admitted into the emergency unit. A medical official told Premium Times that Melaye was not in critical condition, but he was suspected to have broken a vertebrae.

Led by ACP Moshood, a team of at least 30 armed police officers caught up with Melaye in the health facility and took custody of the room he was admitted into.

According to ACP Moshood's statement, one of the vehicles used by the hoodlums to aid Melaye's rescue was recovered by officers on Tuesday. He also revealed that Senator Melaye will be arraigned in court without further delay.

There have been reports that the lawmaker was moved to the National Hospital, Abuja, in a police ambulance around 9:30pm on Tuesday despite objections from Zankli medical staff who advised against moving him.

There's no information yet about the state of his health or whether he'll be moved to Kogi as was initially planned.

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