By Onome Oghenetega
An Effurun High Court in Delta State has granted bail to 69 suspected homosexuals including a gay couple arrested during a gay wedding at a hotel in Ekpan, Uvwie area of the state.
NIGER DELTA TODAY Online reports that the suspects were arrested in August while conducting same-sex wedding in a hotel.
The police spokesman, DSP Bright Edafe, told journalists that its personnel from the Ekpan Divisional Headquarters arrested the suspects while acting on intelligence reports.
Lead lawyer to the accused, Mr Ochuko Ohimor, confirmed the granting of bail to journalists in Effurun on Tuesday evening.
According to him, the suspects were granted bail with a sum of N500,000 and two sureties each.
Ohimor stated that the court ruled that the sureties must reside within the Effurun jurisdiction of the court.
As part of the conditions, Ohimor noted that the suspects are expected to sign a register at the end of every month at the Effurun High Court where they were arraigned.
“The suspects were granted bail at a cost of N500,000 and two sureties each. The sureties must reside within the Effurun jurisdiction”, Ohimor added.
The Police prosecutor, Supol Vincent Orarumen, had opposed the bail conditions, but the suspect’s counsel argued that it was not a capital offence.
This sort of legal jaundice is what has made the country a laughing stock. It surprises me that the ones who help the public to ridicule it are also lawyers. From coming to court every month, the case will die a natural death and justice will be denied. The courts should wake up and be firm with the application of the laws of the land and avoid all these baseless technicalities. Everything about our laws are laughable