Paul Omokuvie,Bauchi
Three persons have been arraigned at Magistrate Court 1, Bauchi, for allegedly vandalising property at the campaign office of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP)’s governorship candidate, Amb. Shu’aibu Ahmed Adamu.
The accused were Bashir Ahmed, Imrana Abubakar and Elisha Andrew.
The First Information Report (FIR) presented to the court by Sergeant Lano Salihu, said they committed the offence in the early hours of December 31, 2018.
According to the police prosecutor, the suspects destroyed billboards of the NNPP candidate and broke glasses at the frontage of the campaign office located in Bauchi GRA behind Zaranda Hotel and later abandoned their vehicle at the scene of the crime.
He told the court that the damage done by the suspects was valued at N250,000.The offence committed by the accused persons is contrary to Section 96 and 327 of the Penal Code.
The police prosecutor therefore urged the court to compel the accused to pay for the properties they destroyed at the NNPP candidate’s campaign secretariat.
The three suspects pleaded not guilty.
The prosecutor urged the court to order the Divisional Police Officer (DPO),GRA police station to transfer the custody of the vehicle allegedly used in committing the crime by the suspects.
Lawyer to the accused, Barrister Abubakar, Sadiq Idris, applied for the bail of the three accused persons and objected to the transfer of the vehicle pleading that it should be in the court’s custody as it had not been tendered as evidence.
The police prosecutor, however, asked the court not to grant the accused bail as their release might affect police investigation since the case was a political one and campaigns had started.
The presiding magistrate, Amina Garba, ordered the vehicle to remain in police custody until it was tendered as evidence.
She, however, denied the accused lawyer’s application for bail and adjourned the case to January 15, 2019, for hearing.
She ordered the suspects to be remanded in prison until the adjourned date.