The Federal High Court in Abuja has denied bail to five people accused of invading, vandalising, and burning down the Rivers State House of Assembly Complex, The Herald reports.
The defendants, Chime Eguma Ezebalike, Prince Lukman Oladele, Kenneth Goodluck Kpasa, Osiga Donald, and Ochueja Thankgod, face a seven-count terrorism charge related to the alleged attack.
The Inspector General of Police filed the charges, accusing the defendants of invading the House of Assembly complex during the political crisis in Rivers State last October.
The incident was said to be an attempt to thwart the impeachment of Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
The defendants are also accused of killing a superintendent of police and five police informants.
The prosecution claimed that the defendants used various cult groups, including the Supreme Vikings Confraternity, Degbam, Iceland, and Greenland, to create chaos in the state.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges, and the court had remanded them in prison custody since January 25.
The defendants, through their lawyers, sought bail, arguing that they should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
One of the defendants, Oladele, requested bail on health grounds.
However, the police opposed the bail applications, arguing that the charges were serious offenses.
In her ruling, Justice Bolaji Olajuwon agreed with the prosecution and dismissed the defendants’ request for bail.
The court adjourned the matter to Thursday for the commencement of the hearing.
Additionally, the court dismissed an application challenging the competence of the charge filed by two of the defendants, Ezebalike and Oladele.
The court held that the police had the statutory powers to prosecute the defendants, and the charge was competent.
The court also struck out an application from the former factional Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon. Edison Ehie, who had been declared wanted by another judge.
Ehie’s application to strike out any part of the charge mentioning his name was rejected, as he was not listed as one of the defendants in the matter.
The court suggested that Ehie could either apply to be joined as one of the defendants or surrender himself to security agencies to establish his whereabouts.