A Rivers State Chief Magistrates’ Court sitting in Port Harcourt, on Tuesday, granted bail to two Caverton Helicopters pilots, Samuel Ugorji and Samuel Buhari, who were earlier arrested for flouting the Executive Order of the Rivers State Government to check the spread of coronavirus.
The 10 passengers, who were flown into the Air Force Base in Port Harcourt by the pilots, were also granted bail.
The pilots and passengers are, however, to appear before the court on May 19, 2020, for trial.
The passengers were identified as Nwogu Chibunna, 39; Peter Michael, 43; Ajagba Iheanyi, 35; Ekperewechi Oguguo, 43; Nsikan Pius, 38; Abanobi Chinoso, 27; Udoh Hagan, 28; Okachukwu Chuks, 41; Goddy Chukwu, 42; and Omerurike Chijioke, 43.
Chief Magistrate D. D. Ihua-Maduenyi granted the pilots bail after hearing the bail application filed by their counsel.
The counsel for the pilots, Nwokedi Ibe, had pleaded with the court to grant his clients bail.
In granting the pilots bail, Ihua-Maduenyi stated that they must present a surety, who must be a management staff of Caverton Helicopters, own a landed property in Port Harcourt and ensure that they would attend the trial.
The chief magistrate stated that the surety would sign a bail bond of N1m for each for the pilots.
Earlier, the court had granted a motion abridging the time for the bail application to be filed following a motion by Caverton Helicopters.
The matter was adjourned till May 19, 2020, for trial.
The Attorney-General of Rivers State, Prof. Zaccheus Adangor, who appeared for the state, did not oppose the bail application.
For the 10 passengers, the court ruled that they should present two sureties, who must be management staff members of Caverton Helicopters.
The sureties, according to the court, are expected to sign a bail bond of N500,000 for each of the passengers and also undertake to bring them to court for trial.
However, the counsel for Caverton Helicopters, Ibe, said after the court session that the basic lesson was that there must be mutual respect between the federal and state governments.
“I want to use this medium to say there is a need for mutual respect between the Federal Government and state governments. The defendants have been granted bail. That is the essence of what happened in court,” Ibe stated.
In his remarks, Adangor maintained that the Rivers State Government was not interested in the persecution of the defendants, hence it did not oppose the bail application.
He said the government was only interested in prosecuting the defendants in line with the law, adding that they would be released as soon as they perfected the bail.
The court had remanded the two pilots in the Delta Hotels, Old GRA, Port Harcourt, after Adangor applied for an amendment to an earlier order to remand them in a correctional centre.
