A Magistrate Court in Lafia on Thursday granted bail to the 38 protesters arrested by the police in Nasarawa State for alleged conspiracy, unlawful assembly and disturbance by fire.
The police had on Jan. 19 arrested the protesters for blocking Lafia/Jos road after the Supreme Court judgment that affirmed the victory of Gov. Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State.
The police said the protesters comprising, eight men and 30 women, had violated the peace accord signed by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and All Progressives Congress, APC, ahead of the Supreme Court judgment.
The magistrate, Mohammed Abdullahi-Lanze, granted the defendants bail after hearing the bail application filed by their counsel.
The magistrate, however, directed that each of the defendants must get a surety not below the position of a director with the state or federal government, who must reside within the jurisdiction of the court.
He also said each surety must submit his or her identity card, N2 million, letter of first appointment and statement of account to the court.
He, therefore, adjourned the case to Feb. 27 for hearing and directed that all the defendants must be present in court on the date.
The Nasarawa State Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General, Labaran Magaji, who earlier took over as the prosecuting counsel, withdrew all the three counter applications.
The counter applications had been filed by the police who were prosecuting the matter before it was taken over by the Attorney-General.
Magaji said the offences committed by the defendants were bailable and as such, the state had withdrawn the counter applications earlier filed to save the time of the court.
