Senator Dino Melaye
The outspoken senator representing Kogi West Senatorial district at
the 8th National Assembly, Senator Dino Melaye, on Friday, raised the
alarm over alleged refusal of the Nigerian Police Command at the FCT
Command to release his international passport as ordered by the court.
The influential politician noted that on July 25th, 2018, an Abuja
Chief Magistrate Court ordered the Police to release his international
passport to him following “a notice of discontinuance” filed by the
prosecution on the charge “No: CR/12/18” in which he was standing trial
before Magistrate Court Wuse Zone 2, Abuja.
According to The Nation, Dino Melaye claimed that “the fragrant refusal of the Police to comply with the court order”
to release his international passport amounted to contempt of court,
adding that series of letters his lawyers wrote to the Police to
retrieve the passport was not honoured by the FCT Police Command.
He noted that apart from the letters, his lawyer also went personally to the Police to retrieve the passport to no avail.
Melaye who said that the Police earlier set a precedent when they
released his passport to enable him go for medical treatment abroad,
wondered what made the July 25th, 2018 order difficult for them to
comply with.
He said, “If a law enforcement agency will be the one breaking
the law, how do you enforce the law. In a country under the rule of law,
if an order of the court is given release this man’s passport, why
would the court order not be obeyed. This buttresses the fact that the
Police is still after me.
“Since April 22nd, 2018 the Police with drew my orderly. No
politician has been so humiliated the way and manner I have been
humiliated. The Police is still looking for me to arrest me over what I
don’t know.
“I want to restate that the Police can only kill and injure the flesh, they cannot kill the spirit. I remain strong.”
Melaye said that he has dragged the Police to court for contempt of Court.
The senator who insisted that he was not fighting the Police by all
standard noted that it is on record that the Police did not challenge
the court order to release his passport.