Home News Port Harcourt Chief Magistrate Court grants bail to accused Carveton Helicopters Pilots, 10 Passengers

Port Harcourt Chief Magistrate Court grants bail to accused Carveton Helicopters Pilots, 10 Passengers

by Our Reporter
A Chief Magistrate Court in Port Harcourt on Tuesday granted bail to
Samuel Ugorji and Samuel Buhari,  both pilots with Carveton Helicopters
who were accused of contravening the Executive Order of the Rivers State
Governor issued to check the spread of coronavirus in the State.

The Magistrate Court also granted bail to 10 passengers of Carveton
Helicopters who were flown into Rivers State by the two pilots.

Chief Magistrate D.D . Ihua-Maduenyi granted the two pilots bail after
hearing the bail application by their counsel.

Chief Magistrate D.D . Ihua-Maduenyi in granting the two pilots bail
stated that they must present a surety who must be a management staff of
Carveton Helicopters.

The Court ruled that the surety must own a landed property in Port
Harcourt and the surety must ensure that the two pilots attend trial.
He added that the surety will sign a bail bond of N1million each for the
two pilots.

Earlier, the court granted a motion abridging the time for the bail
application to be filed following a motion moved by Carveton
Helicopters.  It deemed the bail application  as properly filed.

He adjourned the matter to May 19, 2020 for trial.

Lawyer to the Carveton Pilots,  Nwokedi Ibe moved a bail application
seeking the court to grant the two pilots bail.

His bail application dated April 8, 2020, but filed on April 9, 2020 was
supported by a 28-paragraph affidavit.

Attorney-General of Rivers State,  Professor Zaccheus Adangor who
appeared for the State did not oppose the bail application.

He,  however, urged the Court to set out bail conditions to ensure that
the pilots attend their trial.

The 10 passengers who were granted bail include:

1. NWOGU CHIBUNA  ‘M’, AGED 39YRS

2. PETER MICHAEL ‘M’AGED 43YRS

3. AJAGBA IHEAYNI ‘M’ AGED 35YRS

4. EKPEREWECHI OGUGUO ‘M’AGED 43YRS

5. NSIKAN PIUS ‘M’ AGED 38YRS

6. ABANOBI CHINOSO ‘M’AGED 27YRS

7. UDOH HAGAN ‘M’AGED 28YRS

8. OKACHUKWU CHUKS ‘M’ AGED 41YRS

9. GODDY CHUKWU ‘M’AGED 42YRS

10. OOMERURIKE CHIJIOKE ‘M’AGED 43YRS

For the passengers,  the Court ruled that they should present two
sureties who must be management staff of Carveton Helicopters . They
sureties are to sign bail bond of N500,000 for each of the passengers.
They are to undertake to bring the accused persons trial.

They were arrested at the Air Force Base , Port Harcourt after the
Rivers State Police Command received intelligence on their illegal
flight into the State.

Addressing journalists,  Counsel to Carveton Helicopters, Nwokedi Ibe
said that the Basic lesson in the who interaction is that there must be
mutual respect between the Federal and State Governments.

He said: “I want to use this medium to say there is need for mutual
respect between the Federal Government and State Governments.  The
defendants have been granted bail.  That is the essence of what happened
in Court.”

Attorney-General of Rivers State,  Professor Zaccheus Adangor said that
it must be noted that Rivers State Government is not interested in the
persecution of the defendants,  hence it did not oppose the bail
application.  He said that the State Government is only interested in
prosecuting the defendants in line with the law.

He said that the defendants will be released as soon as they perfect
their bail.

It will be recalled that on April 7, a Port Harcourt Chief Magistrate
Court  remanded two pilots of Carveton Helicopters,  Samuel Ugorji and
Samuel Buhari in prison custody, for  allegedly intentionally disobeying
the Executive Order issued by the Rivers State Governor aimed at
checking the spread of coronavirus in the state.

The Court presided over by Chief Magistrate D.D . Ihua-Maduenyi remanded
the two pilots at the Delta Hotels , Old GRA,  Port Harcourt after the
Attorney-General of Rivers State,  Professor Zaccheus Adangor applied
for that order.

The Pilots who were arrested by the Rivers State Police Command were
arraigned by the State Police Command via charge number:PMC/532C/2020.

                        CHIBOK GIRLS WILL NEVER, EVER BE FORGOTTEN,
BUHARI ASSURES

President Muhammadu Buhari extends his good wishes to the people of
Chibok, Borno State, as they hold prayers and thanksgiving services to
mark the sixth anniversary of the kidnapping of their daughters by Boko
Haram terrorist group.

President Buhari regrets that the current Covid-19 pandemic, with
restrictions on movement, makes it impossible for any government
delegation to be with them during the event.

He, however, assures the people of Chibok that he is still mindful of
their welfare and their concerns, especially regarding our daughters who
are still missing.

On the specific issue of the freedom for the remaining girls held by the
terrorists, the President notes the ongoing efforts on two fronts:

The armed forces of the country who are on general operations in the
entire region continue in their hope that they would encounter these
girls, as they did thousands of other hostages, rescue and bring them
back home.

The nation’s security and intelligence community, in whom a lot of hope,
is reposed in rescuing the abducted girls is making a lot of efforts
using backroom channels to get them back to their families. These are
processes, formal and informal that involves different groups with links
to the terrorists, and are very tedious and uneasy as is seen in
different parts of the world.

“The issue of the Chibok girls is not a forgotten issue. We cannot go to
sleep over this matter. We are optimistic that  ongoing efforts will
yield something positive,” President Buhari assured.

Unfortunately, an ongoing crisis within the Boko Haram leadership, which
has led to factions and breakaway groups, brought a number of unforeseen
challenges to the process of negotiating with the militants for the
young women’s release.

In the past few years, our armed forces have recorded huge successes in
the battle against Boko Haram, but they have also been careful to ensure
that as few civilian lives as possible were lost in the process. We
would rather the young women still in captivity were freed alive.

President Buhari also reflected on the progress being made by the freed
‘Chibok girls’, who were sponsored by his administration to study at the
American University of Nigeria (AUN), Yola, saying that he is proud of
what they are doing.

He encourages them to remain focused on their studies and on this unique
opportunity that has been given to them by God, following their horrific
time in captivity.

President Buhari also commends Yakubu Nkeki, Lawan Zannah and Yana
Galang, the executive officials of the Association of the Parents of the
Abducted Girls from Chibok, on their steadfast efforts to advocate for
the welfare of the parents, the freed women, and those still in
captivity.

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