Three remaining suspects accused of invading the residence of the Supreme Court judge Mary Odili were on Monday granted bail by the Abuja Federal High Court, Abuja.
Justice Nkeonye Maha admitted them to a N5 million bail each following an application separately filed by their counsel, which was not opposed to by lawyer to the police, Mathew Omosun.
Delivering the ruling, Ms Maha ordered that Mohammed Yahaya, an assistant superintendent of police, Abdullahi Adamu and Abdullahi Usman, the 11th, 14th and 15th defendants respectively, must produce two “responsible” sureties each.
The judge also directed that one of the sureties must possess a landed property in Abuja with a verified certificate of occupancy.
Ms Maha also ruled that the second surety must be gainfully employed in Abuja, paid tax in the last three years. She said the documents of the landed property should be submitted to the registry of the court.
On December 15, 2021, she had refused to grant bail to the defendants because no bail application was filed before the court on their behalf. The judge had ordered that they be remanded in Kuje prison until the next hearing fixed for trial commencement.
All 15 defendants had earlier pleaded not guilty to 18 charges, including forgery, criminal trespass, intimidation, extortion, among others, linked to their alleged invasion of Mrs Odili’s home in Abuja on October 29.
The federal government, through the police, had produced the 15 suspects before Ms Maha for arraignment.
In the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/436/2021, they were also alleged to have threatened Mrs Odili and members of her household while trying to execute an illegal search warrant.
Seven suspects are still at large.
(NAN)
