by Rachel Ogbu

Six suspected petroleum pipelines vandals also accused of murdering three engineers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on September 5, 2012 were refused bail on Tuesday February 12.

Justice Mohammed Idris of a Federal High Court in Lagos, said the bail applications breached Section 115 of the Evidence Act.

The accused – Joel Inerepamu, 25, Reuben Oluwole, 60, John Isaiah, 28, Ineye Okposa, 40, Timi Gunugunu, 22 and Saheed Mudashiru, 25 are standing trial on a seven-count charge bordering on pipeline vandalism and murder but ruling on their bail application, Idris held that certain sections of the affidavits were defective and were thus liable to be struck out.

Idris said the flaw had, thus, made the affidavit bare. “When the affidavit is bare, it renders the application bare and liable to be struck out, and is hereby struck out.”

The judge then adjourned the hearing to March 13 and 14.

According to reports, Idris had on January 25 rejected bail for Mudashiru, on the grounds that his counsel did not provide a reasonable argument.

Also George Iheanacho, counsel for Okposa, Oluwole and Inerepamu, had on February 4, at the hearing of the bail applications, urged the court to grant bail to his clients on the grounds of ill-health but Idris said that the suspects’ argument for bail on grounds of sickness could not succeed as they failed to provide the time and circumstances surrounding the argument.

Then Charles Ovuru, counsel for Gunugunu, pressed the court to grant his client bail since the essence of bail was to secure the attendance of an accused in court.

In the end Idris ordered an accelerated hearing of the case and fixed trial for March 13. The accused persons will remain in prison custody until the conclusion of their trial.