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Police Charge Dino Melaye To Court For Illegal Possession Of Firearms

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Police Drag Melaye To Court

Senator Dino Melaye, representing Kogi West in the upper house of the National Assembly, has been charged to court by the Nigerian Police.

Naija News gathered that the Kogi senator is facing charges over alleged illegal possession of firearms.

The police, in a charge filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja, said a pump-action gun was recovered from Melaye’s residence in July 2018 during a search of his property in Kogi State.

Recall that the Police had in December 2018, laid siege on the senator’s Abuja residence, until the senator submitted himself for arrest after 8 days as earlier published by Naija News.

Following his arrest, Melaye slumped and was subsequently taken to the clinic, with the police declaring him fit for trial after medical examination by their doctors.

Melaye is been accused by police authorities of criminal conspiracy and attempted culpable homicide committed on 19 July, 2018.

According to the charge sheet marked, FHC/ABJ/CR/07/2019, the Police said the offence contravened Section 27 of the Firearms Act.

The charge sheet read: “That you, Dino Melaye, representing Kogi West district in the 8th National Assembly, on or about the 20th day of July 2018, at about 12.30 hours under the jurisdiction of this honourable court, unlawfully had in your possession one automatic pump-action shotgun and 20 cartridges, which were recovered at your residence located in the Ayetoro Gbede area of Kogi State, when a search warrant was executed on the directives of the Nigeria Police Force at your above mentioned residence under your control and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 27(1)(a)(i) of the Firearms Act Cap F28 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.”

Eight witnesses, including six policemen and two other men, have been lined up as witnesses in the charge.

The two men were said to have been present, painting the residence when the policemen who came to search Melaye’s residence carried out their duty.

They police operatives are identified as DSP Babagana Bukar, DSP Ibrahim Abalaka, ASP Abdullahi Musa, Inspector Atabo Okpanachi, Inspector Apeh Peter, Theophilus Nuhu, Matthew Anthony and ASP Mohammed Onu.

In a confessional statement, Theophilus Nuhu, a painter at Melaye’s house wrote: “On July 24, 2018, my master, Peter, brought one Matthew Anthony and myself from Kaduna State to Kogi for painting work in which he took us to one Senator Dino Melaye’s house at Ayetoro, Gbede area of Kogi State.

“While we were doing the painting, policemen, comprising MOPOL, SARS and SCID, came in and met us in the compound and they told me they wanted to conduct a search in the compound and they started to search the compound.

“Within and around the boys’ quarters building, where some cars were parked, under the flower, a gun was observed there with many bullets, but I do not know who put the gun there.”