Thursday was scheduled for the hearing of the bail application filed by the applicant''s counsel, Marvin Omorogbe at the Wuse Zone 6 Magistrate Court.

The hearing of the bail application of a social media influencer and blogger Ofoegbu Chukwuma otherwise known as Ijele over alleged cybercrime violations on Thursday in Abuja was stalled.

This followed the absence of Chief Magistrate Emmanuel A. Iyanna in court to handle proceedings.

Thursday was scheduled for the hearing of the bail application filed by the applicant''s counsel, Marvin Omorogbe at the Wuse Zone 6 Magistrate Court. However, it could not go on as the presiding magistrate hurriedly drove out of the court and abandoned the lawyers, journalists and other parties interested in the case in court.

The magistrate who had fixed March 28 for the hearing of the bail application arrived on the court premises at about 9 am but did not enter the courtroom.

He hurriedly drove out while the lawyers for the applicant and respondent were seated in the courtroom.

However, findings by SaharaReporters revealed that the magistrate abandoned the case to attend to a mobile court assignment but did not notify the lawyers who had to wait for hours.

Much later, a court registrar came to inform the lawyers that the court would not be sitting and that he had been directed to give them a new date.

He eventually gave them April 3, 2024, as the new date for the hearing of the bail application. 

The delay means the blogger and social media influencer will languish in detention till after the Easter celebration.

A court affidavit filed by the police in support of the motion ex-parte, claimed they had filed charges at the Federal High Court in Abuja and were waiting for the case to be assigned to a particular court and for Ijele to be arraigned. According to the police, releasing the suspect will jeopardise the prosecution. 

Meanwhile in a motion on notice brought pursuant to Sections 158, 162, and 295 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (2015), Section 36( 5 ) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, the applicant''s lawyer, Marvins Omorogbe is seeking an order setting aside the order of the court made on March 21, 2024, remanding the applicant at the Nigeria Correctional Center, Keffi, Nasarawa State; and directing the release of the applicant from the prison.

In the alternative, he is seeking an order of the court admitting the Applicant (Chizorom Harrison Ofoegbu) to bail pending the conclusion of the Respondent''s investigation.

SaharaReporters on Tuesday reported that court documents it earlier obtained during the day revealed how the Nigeria Police Force, acting on the orders of Evangelist Ebuka Obis Zion Prayer Ministry Movement Outreach, secured an order from the Chief Magistrate Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja to remand Ijele in prison for two weeks to move his case to a High Court in Abuja.

SaharaReporters had reported how the police detained Ijele over his allegations against Evangelist Ebuka Obi.

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