A Zuba Magistrate Court in Abuja on Tuesday refused to grant bail to the passenger debarked and handed over to the Police for making a sensitive statement about President-elect, Bola Tinubu onboard an Ibom Air Abuja-Lagos bound flight, Obiajulu Uja, bail.
Ruling in the bail application filed by Uja, through his counsel, Senior Magistrate Mohammed Abdulazeez Ismail, sitting in Zuba, Abuja, held that the application was premature.
He held that the exhibits attached to the application did not say the defendant was unfit to fail trial but rather indicated he was of unsound mind.
He also held that while the constitution guarantees every person’s liberty, a court can deprive a person of their liberty based on health grounds.
He held that where the mental capacity of a defendant is an issue, the court has the duty to ascertain the medical situation of such a defendant.
He added that the exhibits attached to Uja’s bail application raised the issue of his medical capacity.
He subsequently turned down the bail application and ordered that Uja be held at the Kuje Correctional Centre of Nigerian Correctional Service.
He further ordered that the head of the centre to take the defendant to a government hospital to ascertain his mental capacity.
He then adjourned until April 20 for report and hearing.
