— Considering the Senator’s arraignment for false information
Kogi State Senator, Dino Melaye, on Thursday 1st March 2018, manoeuvred himself out of the premises of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Maitama, outwitting a well-armed contingent of anti-robbery police officers during an attempt to arrest him. He claims.
The Senator who was arraigned by the police for allegedly providing false information to homicide detectives in an attempt to implicate his political rivals in Kogi State is said to have gotten wind of the presence of armed officers of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad to arrest him in the court after he had been granted bail.
Senator Dino Melaye had, in April of 2017, raised alarm that he was the target of an assassination plot allegedly sponsored by Edward Onoja, the Chief of Staff to Governor Yahaya Bello, and other officials in the State.
Following his claim, the police had immediately swung into action and taken six suspects into custody, including a local government chairman, based on the details of the account of the incident as provided by Mr. Melaye. Mr. Onoja was, however, not arrested at the time, but he was investigated over the matter.
Things became complicated when an audio recording emerged of a phone conversation in which Melaye could be heard allegedly telling Mohammed Audu, a son of the late Kogi politician, Abubakar Audu, that he had falsely incriminated Mr. Onoja and others in the supposed attempt to assassinate him.
Mr Melaye was subsequently charged with perjury, after an examination of the recorded phone call, following a petition by Mr Onoja. However, the police did not drop the charges against the six suspects arrested based on Mr Melaye’s complaints, considering the fact that Mr Melaye allegedly only mentioned Mr Onoja by name as the person he fabricated allegations against.
At the opening of the hearing in the Police case against Mr Melaye on Thursday, the Senator pleaded not guilty to two counts of perjury and at about 1:00 pm, he was granted a N100,000 bail, which included terms that he must provide two sureties of note.
The SARS operatives who were said to have come for the Senator were said to have arrived at the court premises while he was sorting out the conditions of his bail. After Senator confirmed that they had come for him, he decided to avoid re-arrest by remaining inside the courtroom, since it was illegal to arrest someone that has been granted bail without a valid warrant for arrest.
Mr. Dino Melaye remained inside the courtroom until he surreptitiously left the court premises in a Hyundai vehicle, unnoticed. The vehicle which drove him out of the premises had an official Senate number plate and left at about 7:54 pm without the knowledge of the operatives who he said had come for him.
When the SARS operatives learned that their mark had left, they left the premises in their vehicle at about 8:32 pm. He claims.
Spokesperson for the Senator told newsmen that they were not sure what was going on and that the tactics of the policemen confused them a bit.
Abuja Police Commissioner, Sadiq Bello, told newsmen that his command was not involved in the attempt to arrest Dino Melaye.
“One thing I know is that my officers are not involved in that. FCT police are not involved in that and, as such, I don’t have much to say.”
On Wednesday, the Senator claimed the Policemen who came to arrest him were over 100 and he added that Angels ensured they did not catch him
“I was in that court for hours and they laid siege for hours. Every car coming in and out of the court were being checked. Somehow because I serve a living God, the angels of the Lord took me out of that court unnoticed and unhurt. They laid siege for more than five hours after I was resting on my bed.” He said.
Senator Melaye won a 2014 suit against the Police and was awarded 10 million Naira by Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the Abuja High Court. The Police had stopped him from protesting against Stella Oduah and the Court ruled that it was a violation of his rights.
