Police drag Senator to court as he appears on stretcher

Kogi lawmaker, Senator Dino Melaye, appeared before an Abuja Magistrate Court sitting at Wuse Zone 2 on a stretcher to answer charges brought against him by the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) on Wednesday, May 2, 2018.

The lawmaker representing Kogi West was charged to court for breaking the windscreen of a police vehicle when he staged a daring escape while he was being transported to Kogi state on Tuesday, April 24.

With help from hoodlums, Melaye had briefly escaped from police officers while he was being transported from Abuja to his home state to answer criminal charges.

Hours later, the Senator resurfaced at the , Abuja, in an ambulance, apparently unconscious, before he was rearrested and moved to the National Hospital.

During his arraignment on Wednesday, Melaye was charged for criminal conspiracy, causing damage to government property, attempted suicide and escape from lawful custody.

The government arraigned the lawmaker for committing offences punishable under sections 148, 153, 172, 173, 231, and 326 under the Penal Code Act.

Presiding magistrate, Mabel Segun-Bello, granted the lawmaker bail in the sum of N90 million, with the order that one of the sureties must be a civil servant on grade level 14, and must show evidence of residence in Abuja.

The lawmaker was also ordered to deposit his international passport with the police as well as report himself at Wuse Zone 2 police station every first working day of the week.

The case was then adjourned till June 6 for proper trial.

Police rearrest Melaye

Despite Melaye meeting the conditions laid out in the bail granted by the court, he was re-arrested by police officers after the arraignment on Wednesday.

His lawyer, Nkem Okoro, told The Punch, "He met his bail conditions but the police decided to re-arrest him on the excuse that they were taking him to Lokoja tomorrow morning."

With over 200 police officers on the court premises, Melaye was escorted off in an ambulance heavily guarded by a convoy of at least 14 pick-up vans and seven 18-seater buses, according to The Punch.

According to a police statement his appearance in court on Wednesday was subsequent to his discharge from the National Hospital after he was confirmed fit for trial.

In the statement, Force Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood, said Melaye will be arraigned in Lokoja for separate charges of criminal conspiracy and unlawful possession of prohibited firearms

Melaye's criminal association

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 but were rearrested before April 1.