The Federal High Court in Abuja has granted bail to the 10 Nigerians charged with treason over last month’s #EndBadGovernance protests.
In a ruling on Wednesday, the judge, Emeka Nwite, granted each of the defendants bail in the sum of N10 million with one surety who must have property worth the bail sum in Abuja.
As part of the bail conditions, the judge ordered that the sureties must submit their passports to the court.
He did not attach any other conditions to the bail.
The 10 defendants earlier arraigned before the judge on 2 September include Michael Tobiloba Adaramoye (aka Lenin), 28 years; Adeyemi Abiodun Abayomi (aka Yomi), 34 years; Suleiman Yakubu, 28 years; Opaluwa Eleojo Simeon, 50 years; Angel Love Innocent, (the only female among them), 51 years.
The rest are Buhari Lawal, male, 21 years; Mosiu Sadiq, male, 28 years; Bashir Bello (aka Murtala), male, 51 years; Nuradeen Khamis, male, 47 years; and Abdulsalam Zubairu, male, 37 years.
Their lawyers had applied to the judge to grant them on liberal terms after their arraignment on 2 September
The lawyers argued that the proof of evidence submitted to substantiate the charges did not support the allegations of treason levelled against their clients.
How the case began
On 2 September, the Nigerian government arraigned the 10 defendants linked to the #EndBadGovernance protests on charges of war plotting and an attempt to topple President Bola Tinubu.
They pleaded not guilty to all six charges. The police filed the charges in August as the government stepped up its clampdown on protesters and the organisers of the #EndBadGovernance protests held in major cities around the country from 1 to 10 August.
According to the charges, the 10 protesters, allegedly acting in concert with Mr Wynee, incited mutiny by calling on the military “to take over the government from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu”.
The prosecution also accused the defendants of inciting citizens to destabilise Nigeria through the protest.
The defendants also face another count of conspiring with their alleged conspirators to commit treason, an offence of taking up arms against the state.
In another grievous allegation, the government accused the protesters of acting in concert with Mr Wynee and others to wage a “war against the state”.
According to the charges, the protesters did this by attacking and injuring police officers and torching police stations, the High Court Complex, NCC Complex, Kano Printing Press, Government House Kano, Kaduna Investment and Promotions Agency Office, NURTW Office and “several other building”.
This offence is said to be contrary to section 410 of the Penal Code (Northern States) Federal Provisions Act.
They denied all the charges.
