Anti-Tinubu air passenger arraigned, remanded in custody

 

Mr. Obiajulu Uja, an anti-Tinubu traveler on an Abuja-Lagos aircraft, has been charged before the Zuba Magistrates' Court in Abuja and remanded in custody.

This was revealed to The PUNCH by his attorney, Ejike Ugwu, on Monday.

Uja was removed from a Lagos-Abuja flight on Friday night after he began a solitary protest asking that Bola Tinubu never be sworn in as president on May 29.

In the viral video that went viral on Saturday, it took no fewer than six airport security officers' attempts to evacuate him after he had delayed the plane for more than an hour as of 7pm.

According to a copy of the charge sheet seen by our reporter, Uja was accused of "conduct likely to cause a breach of peace contrary to sections 396, 267, 188, 172, and 144 of the Penal Code Law," as well as "public nuisance, resistance to a lawful arrest, threatening violence, and conduct."

The attorney stated, "They misled us because yesterday he was taken to Muhammadu Buhari Police Hospital, Area 11 Abuja, and he was arraigned at the Zuba Magistrates' Court as a result."

The attorney, who spoke exclusively to our reporter in Abuja, said that his client had been admitted at the Muhammadu Buhari Police Hospital, but that neither a psychiatrist nor a psychologist were available to examine him there.

However, he claimed that although a physician from Abuja's National Hospital had been requested to examine Uja, the attempt had sadly been in vain.

 "Around 3pm while we were there, they informed us that they intended to charge him in Zuba Magistrates' Court.

"We reminded the court that the same police had asked the doctor to examine him, and that the same police had hurriedly charged him to court rather than waiting for the doctors to examine him.

"Even with the test we performed, we spent nearly N40,000 at the Police clinic; we abandoned all of their tests, and they did not prescribe any medication.

"The way the police are handling it makes it seem as though they have an interest in the case because you brought someone to a police clinic and now you're going to court to inform the judge that you want the person held in custody so that the investigation can continue.

They quickly took him out of the hospital, so as of right now we do not know the outcome of the test that was done there, the attorney claimed.

Ugwu added that the hearing for his client's bail appeal was scheduled for Thursday.

Read original