Chief Magistrate’s Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Wednesday granted bail to six individuals held by the police over their alleged involvement in the #EndSARS protests.
The six are: Olutosin Adeniji, Yasidu Bashiru, Abdulsalam Zubairu, Kabiru Garzali, Paul Akinwumi and Devour Chomo
Chief Magistrate Musa Abdulrazaq Eneye, in a ruling, granted the each of the six bail at N50,000 with one surety in the like sum.
The protesters had been arrested in Abuja last week while wearing RevolutionNow T-Shirt during a protest at the National Assembly.
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They were arraigned on November 6, 2020 on a three-count charge of criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly and inciting public disturbances contrary to Section 97 of the Penal Code.
Although the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charge, they were however ordered to be remanded at the Suleja correctional centre pending the time their formal application for bail would be heard.
In his ruling on the bail application, Magistrate Eneye said that the facts deposed to in the affidavit evidence of the defendants were convincing enough to warrant the grant of the bail.
The Chief Magistrate emphasised the freedom of expression as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution but however said that the law was not absolute because, there are guidance that must be followed by anybody or group while expressing themselves.
He noted that although dangerous insinuations were made against him on the social media, he has taken the oath of office to perform his job without fear or bias against anybody or group
