Court Grants Bail To Detained Kwara Govt Critics* Alfa Babaimole, Onirakunmi reunite with families
By Fatai Ahmed
A Magistrate Court sitting in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, on Thursday, granted bail to Alfa Abdulganiyu Babaimole and Soliu Muhammed Onirakunmi, who were both arrested by the police on the orders of the State government over social media comments on the ‘poorly-constructed’ Tanke Bridge.
While Babaimole was arrested last Friday, 22 December 2023, after prayers at his residence in Pakata area of Ilorin, Onirakunmi was apprehended yesterday at his residence in the metropolis. Four different courts had on Wednesday refused to hear Babaimole’s case, prompting his return to police detention.
The duo of Babaimole and Onirakunmi were subsequently arraigned this morning by police prosecutor before Chief Magistrate I. J Bamigboye, who admitted them to bail with the sum of N200,000 and with two sureties each. She said the two sureties must be civil servants of Grade Level 14 or above and blood relations who have a title document.
Earlier, counsel to the defendants, Barr Abdulrasaq Akorede had urged the court to grant his clients bail on liberal grounds, arguing that the offenses preferred against them are bailable and that they are presumed innocent until proven otherwise. He also assured the court that his clients were law-abiding and would always be available at the instance of the court, adding that the police already have their traceable addresses.
However, the lawyer to the prosecuting team, Iwaloye Raifu opposed the bail application, stating that if released, the accused would intimidate officials of the State’s Ministry of Communications, tamper evidence against them, and make it difficult to arrest other alleged suspects in the case. He also argued that the accused would jump bail.
Ruling on the bail application, Magistrate Bamigboye countered each of the claims by the prosecutors and also queried them for coming to the court empty-handed without any evidence against the accused persons.
The judge, therefore, granted the accused bail and adjourned the case to 7 March 2024.
Reacting to the ruling, the State Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olusegun Adewara commended the judge for upholding the fundamental human rights of the accused and not succumbing to ‘the deceit and hypocrisy’ of the prosecuting team.
He also confirmed that the accused persons perfected their bail conditions on Thursday evening and have regained their freedom.
Adewara had in a statement issued yesterday condemned the alleged clampdown on members of the PDP by the Kwara State Police Command, accusing the law enforcement agency of “deviating from their core duty of safeguarding lives and property and becoming tools for suppressing dissenting voices on behalf of the Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq-led state government.
