Court bail for APC kingpin, Flag Amachree sparks controversy

It is the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State that keeps raising alarm that its members, at the last count 300, were killed at elections since 2015. When it comes to arresting suspects, it is also the same APC that finds members indicted. The case of Ojukaye Flag Amachree from Abonnema is central to this twist as the man has been in detention since the 2015 elections over murder allegations. The PDP-led government in the state has also just conducted an inquiry into the killing of a youth corps member in Ahoada and asked the police to arrest another APC kingpin.
The case of Amachree became so heated that that a PDP leader in the state openly boasted of how they must jail the man. The leader’s wife is the judge handling the matter, prompting the APC to shout loud that it was a predetermined matter.
The lawyer leading the defence for Amachree, Ken Atsuate, was brutally murdered some weeks back and was just buried at the weekend. An appeal court sitting in Port Harcourt has at last granted bail to the incarcerated chieftain.
Reacting, the APC in the state said the granting of bail to the APC chieftain Thursday signified the pre-eminence of good over evil, and that it confirmed that the triumph of evil over good was only but temporary.
APC leaders including Magnus Abe, Davis Ikanya and Dakuku Peterside all hailed the bail order. Peterside, director-general of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), particularly described it as the “triumph of light over darkness and end of wickedness from Rivers State Government House.”
He stressed that the judiciary has once again risen to its bastion as the last hope of the oppressed and those unjustly persecuted by power mongers.
He said Amachree was arrested and sent to prison on concocted charges by the Rivers State Government and that all reasonable attempts to get the state High Court grant him bail fell on deaf ears.
Along the line, he added, one of the lawyers defending him in court was murdered in controversial circumstances, just as the Rivers State Government filed fresh murder charges against Amachree, in an attempt to keep him perpetually in prison.
Peterside said: “This is a great day for Rivers people. This is a pointer to the end of recklessness, arbitrariness, impunity and wickedness on the part of a governor who rose to power through violence. The Appeal Court has once again reaffirmed our belief in the judiciary. No matter how long a lie has travelled, it takes just one day for truth to catch up with it. Today, the truth has dawned on evil and wickedness.
“All along, we have always maintained the innocence of Ojukaye Flag Amachree. Even the police have come out to say they do not have evidence against him. So you wonder why the desperation to implicate him.”
Reacting, the Attorney-General of Rivers State informed the Deputy Controller of Prisons of Federal Prisons, Port Harcourt, that the remand order on Flag-Amachree was still subsisting, and thus cannot be released from prison custody despite being granted bail in another suit.
In a letter to the Deputy Controller of Prisons of Federal Prisons, Port Harcourt, Solicitor -General and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Rivers State wrote: “I am directed to inform you that the attention of the Honourable Attorney-General of Rivers State has been drawn to the foregoing judgment granting the appellant/accused person bail.

“While we are aware of the order of the Honourable Court of Appeal in Appeal CA/PH/27CR/2016 granting bail to the appellant/accused person on certain conditions, it must be noted that the decision of the Court of Appeal in APPEAL CA/PH/27CR/2016 only set aside the decision made on 1st July 2016 by the trial court remanding the accused person. The judgment has nothing to do with the subsequent orders remanding the appellant/accused person “.
The letter read: “Of prime importance are the proceedings of 26th October 2016 wherein the court ordered the Appellant/Accused person to be further remanded in prison custody. In the light of the above development, I am further directed to inform you that the said order is still subsisting, having not been appealed against. Accordingly, you are please enjoined to uphold the orders of the Chief Judge of Rivers State made on 26th October which is not affected by the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Appeal CA/PH/27CR/2016”.
In a similar letter to the Deputy Controller of Prisons of Federal Prisons, Port Harcourt, the prosecution counsel, in a letter written by Damilare Adeyemi informed the prisons authorities that the remand order on Flag-Amachree still subsisted, while the suit will start afresh under Justice Akpugnum where the accused person needed to file a fresh application for bail after his arraignment.

 

Ignatius Chukwu