Yakubu Dogara, Speaker of the House of Representatives on Thursday urged authorities of the Nigerian Police to ensure security of Senator Dino Melaye’s life before prosecution.
Dogara gave the charge in response to a motion sponsored by Sunday Karimi (PDP-Kogi), who expressed concern over the arraignment of Melaye in Lokoja court, on the stretcher, barely 24 hours after he was granted bail by the Abuja Magistrate Court.
He said: “Karimi is talking about rule of law and due process, and we have our own rules in this House. So, we will abide by that. All I can say is that nothing can happen to the Senator.
“If anyone in this country commits an offence, the law is there for the person to be prosecuted or arraigned in court within the ambit of the law.
“I don’t think the law supports a situation whereby someone is in a dire health situation and is being arraigned most especially that that person is a Senator. It is unthinkable that a Distinguished Senator or an honourable member of this House would run away from trial.
“So, my admonition to the security agencies is to do everything possible to ensure that his life is secured first before prosecution. Prosecution cannot come at the expense of death and that is very important because if anything happened to him, the responsibility will lie on the security agencies.
“That is without mincing of words; because I have not seen a country where someone will be arraigned in a stretcher; where he is not even in the right frame of mind to even take a plea. So, what use is it if you’re taken someone to court and he cannot plead guilty or not guilty. So, the emphasis should be on his health first,” he stressed.
Sponsor of the motion, Sunday Karimi (PDP-Kogi) had alleged that Senator Melaye is “facing persecution because of his belief and the House must not continue to sit down and keep quite.
“We should ensure that the rule of law prevails in this case. It is happening to Senator Dino today, it could happen to any of us,” Karimi noted.
Karimi decried the large number of policemen deployed to guard Senator Melaye.
“I visited him in the hospital and counted up to 38 policemen. On Saturday, INEC went to conduct his recall. Only yesterday, he was arraigned in court in Abuja. Today, Dino was carried in an ambulance to Lokoja,” he lamented.
Attempts by other members to comment on the matter were rebuffed by the speaker who ruled that since it is a matter of personal explanation and since the Senate is already looking into the issue, it can only be referred to a committee of the House for further legislative action.
