Court orders the remand of two APC Chieftains in Prison

Two chieftains of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Osakpamwan Eriyo and Sunday Osagbona have been remanded in prison by an Oredo Magistrates’ Court in Benin for alleged murder.Chief Magistrate, Mrs. M.C. Ojobo said she lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the case and directed that the accused persons be remanded in the Oko Medium Security Prison.She said the prison had proper health facilities and directed that the case be sent to the Directorate of Public Prosecution for legal advice.The accused persons were charged with the attempted murder of Chief Osaro Idah, Secretary of the State’s APC.Eriyo is the State Youth Leader of APC and Chairman of the Road Transport Employers Association (RTEAN) while Sunday is the Ward 3 Chairman of the APC in Oredo Local Government.Their pleas were not granted.Their Counsel, Usunobun Evbayiro urged the court to grant them custody in the police clinic because of their ill health. He said his clients were hypertensive, asthmatic and diabetic and needed constant medical attention.”˜The first accused person collapsed in police station. It was the police doctors that revived him. I urge you to use your discretion to order him to be kept in police hospital so that the police doctors can attend to him. It is not for him to die in custody’.The case was adjourned till January 13^th, 2017.Meanwhile, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), protesters of the chieftains staged protests at the headquarters of the Edo State Police Command to demand their release. The police however ignored the protesters and took the accused to the court amid heavy security.The APC chieftains were arrested following a petition sent to the police by Chief Osaro, that they threatened his life.