By Cletus Felix
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, has granted bail to embattled cryptocurrency entrepreneur, Obol Jesam Michael, following his three-week detention by the Police.
Presiding over the matter, Honourable Justice M.A. Madugu, in granting bail to the entrepreneur, noted that during the hearing of the application for the enforcement of the defendant’s fundamental rights, the Police failed to produce him in court or provide any justification for his continued detention.
Accordingly, the court issued an order for his immediate release, unequivocally restraining the Police from any form of re-arrest without recourse to the judicial process.
The ruling was delivered in Suit No: FCT/HC/CV/14/2025 and Motion No: FCT/HC/BW/M/139/2025, between Obol Jesam Michael (Applicant) and the Nigeria Police Force, the Inspector General of Police, DCP Okezie Chikezie (Anti-Fraud Section, FCID), Ezekiel Okporante, Stella Chinenye Onigbe, the IGP Monitoring Unit, and five others (Respondents).
The court order dated 19th February 2025 reads: “Upon reading the motion on notice along with the accompanying affidavit of Florence Michael Ubo, including the written address and exhibits filed in support of the application, and upon hearing E. A. Esin (Esq), with Sam John Usani, counsel to the claimant, the court hereby restrains the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th, and 9th respondents from re-arresting or detaining Obol Jesam Michael without obtaining the leave of the court.”
However, in what appears to be a flagrant disregard for judicial authority, Counsel to the Respondent, Obono Obla, disclosed that despite the order being duly served on the Inspector General of Police and all officers involved, the law enforcement authorities have blatantly refused to comply.
“The Police, in a brazen act of lawlessness, instead transferred him to the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in an apparent attempt to frustrate the execution of the court order. However, the EFCC authorities declined to assume jurisdiction over the matter, explicitly instructing the Police to comply with the court directive and release him forthwith.”
“Rather than obeying the lawful order, the Police moved Jesam Michael from their Maitama detention facility, where he had been held for three weeks, to a facility formerly used by the now-disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), where he remains in custody in clear defiance of the court’s decision,” Obla alleged.
Furthermore, Obla accused the Police of deliberately obstructing the bail process by chasing away the sureties presented by the applicant, despite their full compliance with the stipulated bail conditions.
When contacted for a response, CSP Mohammed, the Police Investigating Officer, declined to comment on the matter, stating that he was not in a position to speak on the issue and that only superior authorities could provide an official response.
