President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) has risen in defence of the nation's judiciary over the granting of bails to suspects of secret cult activities in the nation and blamed the 1999 Constitution, which is a handicap on the judges.
Olanipekun at the Ilorin High Court during one of the resumed sittings of the state Election Tribunal declared that "it is unfair to say that the judiciary is fond of releasing secret cult suspects on bail indiscriminately".
He said the judiciary would not release anybody except after going through the due process of the law. "If somebody is arrested and the state is not ready in prosecuting him or her and the constitution says if anybody is arrested and detained, he must be prosecuted within a limited time the judiciary now has no alternative than to release that person on bail. The constitution has not said anything about the sophisticated weapon or any type of weapons being used before bail can or cannot be granted to an accused person," he said.
Olanipekun stressed further, "if it is a case of culpable homicide punishable with death, I know the judiciary will not normally, except in exceptional circumstances grant bail to an accused person . If it is the ordinary case, it all depends on what the police placed before the court".
The NBA boss revealed that a member of the body's national executive council (NEC) from the Onitsha branch has been suspended for giving the NBA information that implicated the former governor, Chinwoke Mbadinuju over the death of the late Barnabas and his pregnant wife, Amaka only to turn around to accept commissioner post from the same governor.
According to him, "as I am talking to you right now, he has not come back to tell us that what he told us was not the truth, yet he was a member of NEC. Without informing us, not even discussing with us. He was the one instigating us to take action against Mbadinuju and went on take a job with him. This is not moral.
"by Ayodeji Fashikun ("This Day," June 9, 2003)
President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) has risen in defence of the nation's judiciary over the granting of bails to suspects of secret cult activities in the nation and blamed the 1999 Constitution, which is a handicap on the judges.
Olanipekun at the Ilorin High Court during one of the resumed sittings of the state Election Tribunal declared that "it is unfair to say that the judiciary is fond of releasing secret cult suspects on bail indiscriminately".
He said the judiciary would not release anybody except after going through the due process of the law. "If somebody is arrested and the state is not ready in prosecuting him or her and the constitution says if anybody is arrested and detained, he must be prosecuted within a limited time the judiciary now has no alternative than to release that person on bail. The constitution has not said anything about the sophisticated weapon or any type of weapons being used before bail can or cannot be granted to an accused person," he said.
Olanipekun stressed further, "if it is a case of culpable homicide punishable with death, I know the judiciary will not normally, except in exceptional circumstances grant bail to an accused person . If it is the ordinary case, it all depends on what the police placed before the court".
The NBA boss revealed that a member of the body's national executive council (NEC) from the Onitsha branch has been suspended for giving the NBA information that implicated the former governor, Chinwoke Mbadinuju over the death of the late Barnabas and his pregnant wife, Amaka only to turn around to accept commissioner post from the same governor.
According to him, "as I am talking to you right now, he has not come back to tell us that what he told us was not the truth, yet he was a member of NEC. Without informing us, not even discussing with us. He was the one instigating us to take action against Mbadinuju and went on take a job with him. This is not moral.
"by Ayodeji Fashikun ("This Day," June 9, 2003)
President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) has risen in defence of the nation's judiciary over the granting of bails to suspects of secret cult activities in the nation and blamed the 1999 Constitution, which is a handicap on the judges.
Olanipekun at the Ilorin High Court during one of the resumed sittings of the state Election Tribunal declared that "it is unfair to say that the judiciary is fond of releasing secret cult suspects on bail indiscriminately".
He said the judiciary would not release anybody except after going through the due process of the law. "If somebody is arrested and the state is not ready in prosecuting him or her and the constitution says if anybody is arrested and detained, he must be prosecuted within a limited time the judiciary now has no alternative than to release that person on bail. The constitution has not said anything about the sophisticated weapon or any type of weapons being used before bail can or cannot be granted to an accused person," he said.
Olanipekun stressed further, "if it is a case of culpable homicide punishable with death, I know the judiciary will not normally, except in exceptional circumstances grant bail to an accused person . If it is the ordinary case, it all depends on what the police placed before the court".
The NBA boss revealed that a member of the body's national executive council (NEC) from the Onitsha branch has been suspended for giving the NBA information that implicated the former governor, Chinwoke Mbadinuju over the death of the late Barnabas and his pregnant wife, Amaka only to turn around to accept commissioner post from the same governor.
According to him, "as I am talking to you right now, he has not come back to tell us that what he told us was not the truth, yet he was a member of NEC. Without informing us, not even discussing with us. He was the one instigating us to take action against Mbadinuju and went on take a job with him. This is not moral.
"by Ayodeji Fashikun ("This Day," June 9, 2003)
President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) has risen in defence of the nation's judiciary over the granting of bails to suspects of secret cult activities in the nation and blamed the 1999 Constitution, which is a handicap on the judges.
Olanipekun at the Ilorin High Court during one of the resumed sittings of the state Election Tribunal declared that "it is unfair to say that the judiciary is fond of releasing secret cult suspects on bail indiscriminately".
He said the judiciary would not release anybody except after going through the due process of the law. "If somebody is arrested and the state is not ready in prosecuting him or her and the constitution says if anybody is arrested and detained, he must be prosecuted within a limited time the judiciary now has no alternative than to release that person on bail. The constitution has not said anything about the sophisticated weapon or any type of weapons being used before bail can or cannot be granted to an accused person," he said.
Olanipekun stressed further, "if it is a case of culpable homicide punishable with death, I know the judiciary will not normally, except in exceptional circumstances grant bail to an accused person . If it is the ordinary case, it all depends on what the police placed before the court".
The NBA boss revealed that a member of the body's national executive council (NEC) from the Onitsha branch has been suspended for giving the NBA information that implicated the former governor, Chinwoke Mbadinuju over the death of the late Barnabas and his pregnant wife, Amaka only to turn around to accept commissioner post from the same governor.
According to him, "as I am talking to you right now, he has not come back to tell us that what he told us was not the truth, yet he was a member of NEC. Without informing us, not even discussing with us. He was the one instigating us to take action against Mbadinuju and went on take a job with him. This is not moral.