Senator Dino Melaye has told a court that he tried to escape from the convoy transporting him from Abuja to Lokoja because he had reason to fear for his life.
Recall that the Senator had been arrested on suspicion of distributing arms to political thugs to disrupt political activities in Kogi state and while on the journey he jumped from the vehicle purportedly in an attempt to escape from the police. He then injured himself and had to be rushed to the hospital.
The senator made this known in an affidavit filed before a Lokoja High court by his lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, SAN where he averred that he had suffered from the use of tear gas and was in fear for his life.
His bail application was adjourned with the presiding judge stating that he would need to study the facts of the case alleged in the court documents.
Speaking with newsmen over the bail application and Melaye’s attempted escape, Ozekhome said, “The truth is that the case was adjourned to today for arguments on our bail application and the prosecution led by Alex Iziyon filed their counter affidavit which they served us in the court today. We had to quickly start preparing a better and further affidavit because of the issues they raised in their counter affidavit that is what we are allowed to do in law
“In their counter affidavit, they were raising this issue that Melaye is a kind of person that had jumped out of a moving bus when they were taking to Lokoja. What we have done is to counter that to say that the Police had told him he was being taken to an FCT high court to be arraigned only for them to suddenly veer off going to Lokoja
“According to Melaye, while they were in the vehicle going to Lokoja at the Area1 intersection round about the police tear gassed him two times when he protested as to why they were now taking him to Lokoja instead of Abuja FCT they tear gassed him twice and as soon as the car came to a stand still at the roundabout he forced open the bus door and jumped down because he was now gasping for breadth so that he would not suffocate and the video went viral that they want to kill him by taking to Lokoja.
“Because of that his sympathisers and boys who gathered including his lawyers took him to Zankli Hospital and it was from the hospital that the police again came and bundled him to the National Hospital Abuja where they chained him to the bed like a common criminal. So the question is if someone were to escape from justice would he be in the hospital. So we have to counter this false allegation.
Ozekhome concluded, “The National Hospital that the chief judge said he should be taken to make two recommendations that this man is an asthmatic patient and has serious spinal cord injury. And that he needs to come back on the 9th for further examination, his national passport has already been deposited.”