The Nigeria Police Force has
filed a charge against Kogi West lawmaker, Senator Dino Melaye, for alleged
illegal weapons possession.
In the charge, which has been
filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja, the police said a pump-action gun
was recovered from Melaye’s house in July last year during a search of his property in Kogi
State.
In the charge, marked,
FHC/ABJ/CR/07/2019, the police said the offence contravened Section 27 of the
Firearms Act.
The charge sheet reads, “That
you, Dino Melaye, representing Kogi West district in the 8th National Assembly,
on or about the 20th day of July 2018, at about 12.30 hours under the
jurisdiction of this honourable court, unlawfully had in your possession one
automatic pump-action shotgun and 20 cartridges, which were recovered at your
residence located in the Ayetoro Gbede area of Kogi State, when a search
warrant was executed on the directives of the Nigeria Police Force at your
above mentioned residence under your control and thereby committed an offence
contrary to Section 27(1)(a)(i) of the Firearms Act Cap F28 Laws of the Federation
of Nigeria, 2004.”
The police also listed eight
persons as witnesses.
The witnesses comprise six
policemen and two men who were painting Melaye’s house when the policemen came
to search the property.
They were identified as DSP
Babagana Bukar, DSP Ibrahim Abalaka, ASP Abdullahi Musa, Inspector Atabo
Okpanachi, Inspector Apeh Peter, Theophilus Nuhu, Matthew Anthony and ASP
Mohammed Onu.
According to the statements made
by all the witnesses and attached to the charge sheet, the gun was found not in
the main building but the ‘boys’ quarters’ where cars were parked.
One of the painters, Theophilus
Nuhu, wrote, “On July 24, 2018, my master, Peter, brought one Matthew Anthony
and myself from Kaduna State to Kogi for painting work in which he took us to
one Senator Dino Melaye’s house at Ayetoro, Gbede area of Kogi State.
“While we were doing the
painting, policemen, comprising MOPOL, SARS and SCID, came in and met us in the
compound and they told me they wanted to conduct a search in the compound and
they started to search the compound.
“Within and around the boys’
quarters building, where some cars were parked, under the flower, a gun was
observed therewith many bullets but I do not know who put the gun there.”
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