Court keeps Obi’s supporter in prison for 2-month mental treatment

The Zuba Magistrate Court in Abuja has ordered the Kuje correctional facility to continue holding Obiajulu Uja, a supporter of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, in its custody.

Uja was in April 2023 carried off a Lagos-Abuja flight after he started a lone protest demanding that President Bola Tinubu (then President-elect) must not be sworn in as President on May 29.

The OBIdient supporter is said to be mentally unstable, according to a medical report tendered to the court at previous hearings on the case.

However, the presiding judge, Magistrate Abdulazeez Ismail Muhammad, at the hearing on the matter on Tuesday, June 27, referred him back to the medical facility at Kuje correctional centre for further urgent medical treatment for a period of two months.

READ ALSO: Kuje prison certifies man opposing Tinubu’s inauguration ‘mentally unstable’

After listening to the submissions of the prosecution and defence counsels on bail application as well as the examination of the medical report which presupposed that the defendant is suffering from mental disorder, the Magistrate declared that the defendant is of unsound mind and not fit for trial.

PRNigeria quoted the Magistrate as saying that since only a sane person could stand trial, it would be unsafe for the court to deliver it ruling on the bail application at that stage.

Muhammad said: “Having equally found that the defendant need urgent further treatment and having released the medical observation report is not too conclusive on the peculiar mental challenge of the defendant and in the interest of justice the appropriate thing for the court to do is to further subject the defendant to further medical care at the expense of the federal government.

“Thus, I hereby refer the defendant back to the medical facility at Kuje Correctional Center for further urgent medical treatment for a period of two months at the expense of federal government of Nigeria pursuant to the provision of Section 278(4).

“The control of the corrections (medicals) is at liberty to engage experts from other medical facilities within the FCT. However, if the mental soundness of the defendant  appropriates during this period and before the expiration of the period, the medical officer shall file a report forthwith to enable the court proceed with trial including delivering its ruling on the defendant’s bail application.”

The Star