Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed October 23 for ruling on the bail application brought by Judith Asuni (an American) and Danjuma Saidu (a Nigerian) standing trial over alleged espionage and felony against the Federal Government.
Federal Government accused them of disguising as social workers to breach the nation�s security.
The government had last week tendered classified information allegedly in possession of the accused persons it claimed might compromise the nation�s security to the court.
It told the court that the documents marked Annexure “A”, if passed to foreign governments, could have serious security implications for the nation�s investment interests.
Enemies of the country, it added, could also rely on the documents to instigate violence for their arms and oil bunkering businesses to thrive.
At the resumed hearing of the matter on Tuesday, counsel to the accused persons, Professor Yemi Oshibajo (SAN), told the court that his client had been in the forefront of peace initiatives in the Niger Delta region, adding that they had in the past worked with governments of Delta, Rivers and Bayelsa in finding lasting solutions to crises in the area.
“It is our submission that the non-provision of the proof of evidence to establish a prima facie case against the accused persons is a special circumstance for bail.
“The 1st and 4th accused persons have shown that they have no criminal records, the 1st accused person has been organising workshops for the restive youths of the Niger Delta and has worked in collaboration with the Federal Government, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the SSS, oil companies and the governments of Rivers, Delta and Bayelsa states, all in the bid to bring peace to the zone”, he added.
But Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), Salihu Aliyu, told the court that he was opposing the application for bail on the grounds that there was no document before the court to warrant it to exercise its discretion to admit the accused to bail.
Said he: “The averrements in the affidavit in support of the application for bail are mere concoctions, they even concocted the orders of this honorable court. It showed that the 1st accused person not only lied, but lied in respect of the orders of the court.
“There are only assertions of the ailments that she supposedly suffers from, without any medical certificate to back it up. She claims to suffer from typhoid,
malaria and other tropical diseases with no certificate to back her claims”.
Justice Binta Murtala Nyako had earlier granted bail to two Germans, Florian Alexander Orpitx and Andy Lehmann, but refused the application for bail by Asuni and Saidu.