Court reduces bail to N5m for #EndBadGovernance protesters

By John Alechenu

Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday granted a bail variation for five #EndBadGovernance protesters, reducing the bail amount to N5 million each.Recall that five of the ten #EndBadGovernance protesters, who were previously remanded in prison by the federal government, have struggled to meet the original bail conditions.

Marshall Abubakar, counsel for the 1st, 2nd, and 4th defendants, revealed that some of the protesters had been unable to secure a surety with landed property in Abuja, which is one of the bail requirements.

Justice Nwite had on September 11, initially granted bail to all ten protesters, totalling N100 million. “The bail is hereby granted to the defendants in the sum of N10 million each with one surety in the same amount,” he had ruled.

The court required that the sureties be residents of Abuja, own property in the city, and deposit their property documents with its registrar.

The sureties were also required to swear to an affidavit of means, and both the defendants and sureties were to submit their international passports and recent passport photographs to the registrar.

Justice Nwite ruled that the protesters would remain in custody until they met the bail conditions.

The defence lawyers later appealed the stringent bail terms, particularly for the five defendants unable to meet the requirements.

Following their application, the judge reduced the bail sum to N25 million in total for the five protesters requesting the variation.