Clement Mue, the legal counsel for the Peoples Democratic Party in Benue State, bemoaned his client’s ongoing detention at the Correctional Center in Makurdi on Thursday.
Paul Gyenger, according to Mue, was detained on August 25, 2023, at the request of the state governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, through the Commissioner for Justice, for allegedly defaming the governor by posting on his Facebook page that he had misappropriated the two (2) billion dollars in palliative funds provided by the federal government to the state.
The PDP legal advisor referred to his client’s continued imprisonment after receiving bail as “illegal, unconstitutional, and unnecessary.”
Mue said that the Chief Magistrate, His Worship Taribo Attah, had thwarted all attempts to obtain bail for his client, even after the High Court had ordered his release on bail.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday at the Magistrate Court’s Makurdi offices, which is next to the School of Nursing,
The defendant in this case, Paul Terhemba Gyenger, is currently being held at the Correctional Center in Yakyo, Makurdi, Benue State. Mue stated, “The fact of the matter is that on August 25, 2023, my client was arrested following a complaint by Governor Hyacinth Alia on the grounds that he made a post on his Facebook page tagged,’ it is alleged that other states have collected their palliatives and in Benue State, the
He claimed to know, but he did not say so. His arrest that Friday was predicated on this. When we went to the police, they claimed they would charge him. They didn’t, so on August 28, 2023, I petitioned the High Court 10 for a basic enforcement order against the defendants, who are the Governor, the Commissioner of Justice, and the Commissioner of Police.
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Dele Momodu lacks Wike-Onwordi’s electoral value. “After receiving that specific process, the third respondent in this case, the Commissioner of Police, arraigned my client on August 31, 2023, at the Chief Magistrate Court 1, before His Worship Taribo Attah, and I submitted a motion for bail in his court. When the subject arose, he postponed it until September 11, 2023.
“The offences accused are bailable since they are complaining of conspiracy, defamation of character, cybercrime stucking which are generally bailable. The Magistrate postponed making a decision on our application after hearing it until September 20, 2023.
For my client’s benefit, the High Court 10 that we went to granted our bail application.
“On September 12, 2023, the magistrate, His Worship Taribo Attah, received an order. He closed by 1 p.m. and left me in the court before the Magistrate received this process. I waited until 4 p.m. on September 12, 2023, and this morning, September 13, 2023, I filed an exparte application since the High Court instructed the court to set bail terms only. The Chief Magistrate informed me that he could not comply with it since it was a misuse of the legal system.
The original remand notice was set to expire on September 7, 2023, so I then pointed him to section 34 sub 3 of the administration of criminal justice law, which gave him the right to issue bail. As I speak with you, my client’s continuing confinement at Yaikyo Correctional Centre is unlawful, unconstitutional, and unjustified.
“All they want to do is keep him locked up forever by using the State’s coercive powers. I have no choice except to request the release of my client.
