A Zuba Magistrate Court in Abuja on Tuesday refused bail to Obiajulu Uja, who protested against president‑elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu while aboard an Ibom Air flight from Abuja to Lagos. After being debarked and handed over to police, Uja applied for bail through his counsel, Barr. Ejike Ugwu. Senior Magistrate Mohammed Abdulazeez Ismail dismissed the application as premature, noting that the exhibits attached did not show the defendant to be unfit for trial but rather indicated he was of unsound mind.
The magistrate emphasized that, although the constitution guarantees personal liberty, a court may deprive a person of liberty on health grounds. Citing Section 35(1)(e) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and Section 278 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, he ruled that Uja could not be granted bail. He explained that when a defendant’s mental capacity is in question, the court must ascertain the medical condition, and the exhibits in Uja’s bail application raised precisely that issue.
Consequently, the magistrate ordered that Uja be detained at the Kuje Correctional Centre of the Nigerian Correctional Service and directed the centre’s head to take him to a government hospital for a mental‑capacity assessment. The case was adjourned until 20 April for a report and further hearing.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Uja held up the aircraft for over an hour, and six airport security officers were required to evacuate him after he began his protest. Police accused him of threatening violence and causing a breach of peace.
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