Uja was forcibly removed from the plane for shouting while protesting against the ‘victory’ of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the 2023 presidential election, Tinubu.
The one-man anti-Bola Tinubu protester, Obiajulu Uja, arrested onboard an Ibom Air Abuja-Lagos bound flight has been denied bail by a Zuba Magistrate Court in Abuja.
Uja was forcibly removed from the plane for shouting while protesting against the ‘victory’ of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the 2023 presidential election, Tinubu.
Uja reportedly delayed the flight for over an hour, and it took the effort of six airport security officers to evacuate him after he started the protest.
Upon his arrest, the police accused him of threatening violence and causing a breach of peace by his actions.
He was subsequently remanded in prison.
Uja had filed a bail application through his counsel, Barr. Ejike Ugwu, but the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Senior Magistrate Mohammed Abdulazeez Ismail, on Tuesday dismissed the application.
The court held that the application was premature.
Magistrate Ismail held that the exhibits attached to the application did not say the defendant was unfit for trial but rather indicated he was of unsound mind.
He explained that while the constitution guarantees every person’s liberty, a court can deprive a person of their liberty based on health grounds.
The Magistrate, who cited the provisions of Section 35(1)(e) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and Section 278 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, held that Uja could not be granted bail.
He noted that where the mental capacity of a defendant is an issue, the court has the duty to ascertain the medical health of such a defendant.
The Magistrate further held that the exhibits attached to Uja’s bail application raised the issue of his medical capacity and therefore ordered that Uja should be held at the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
Ismail also ordered that the head of the prison facility should take Uja to a government hospital to ascertain his mental health.
The Magistrate adjourned the case to April 20, 2023, for a report and hearing.