Lawyer who criticised Buhari gets bail after six months in DSS custody.

A lawyer, Emperor Ogbonna has been admitted to bail by a Federal High Court in Abuja after almost six months in the custody of the Department of State Services, DSS.

His bail application was granted by Justice Taiwo Taiwo while ruling on a motion on notice, filed by a Senior Advocate, Chief Mike Ozekhome.

It would be recalled that Ogbonna has been detained since March 24, 2020, over alleged criticism of certain policies of President Muhammadu Buhari saying that citizens may revolt due to alleged harsh living conditions unless the Federal Government provides a remedy.

His defense counsel, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, while pleading that the detained lawyer be admitted to liberal bail conditions, said that the fundamental rights of the detainee had been brutally breached.

Prosecution counsel, Isah Abubakar, opposed the bail application on the grounds that the applicant will escape justice in view of the gravity of his alleged offense.

Justice Taiwo agreed with Ozekhome that the law presumed the applicant innocent until found guilty by a competent court and that the fundamental rights of the applicant to freedom of liberty had been breached with the detention which exceeded the duration prescribed by law.

The judge, therefore, admitted Ogbonna to bail in the sum of N2 million with two sureties in like sum.

Among others, the sureties must provide evidence of tax payment and one of them must have a property in the Federal Capital Territory with verifiable documents.