Rivers Lawmaker Not in Court as Case Continues May 23

Blessing Ibunge

A Magistrate Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has adjourned till May 23 this year hearing on alleged conspiracy and cultism suit involving the state government and a Member Representing Degema/Bonny Federal Constituency, Hon. Farah Dagogo.

When the matter was mentioned yesterday, the accused person who is a governorship aspirant in Rivers State on the platform of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), was not brought to the court from the police custody where has been detained for the past weeks.

Dagogo is facing a two-count- charge on conspiracy and cultism.

In his submission, the Prosecution Counsel, Mr. Chidi Ekeh, informed the court that fresh new charges have been filed at the Rivers State High Court against Dagogo.

However, Counsel for the Federal Lawmaker, Mr. Femi Adegbite, filed a motion for bail of his client, which was not opposed by the prosecution counsel.

Meanwhile, the Trial Chief Magistrate, Mr. Amadi Nna, have adjourned the matter till May 23 for continuation of hearing.

Earlier, Hon. Farah Dagogo had accused Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, of plotting to nail him with falsehood.

Dagogo, in a statement by his media aide in Port Harcourt, Mr. Ibrahim Lawal, alleged that the charges against him, which he described as trumped-up, were calculated and masterminded by the governor and his co-conspirators, to put him away and scuttle his governorship ambition.

He said: “Governor Nyesom Wike, during a thanksgiving service in church, confirmed our concerns and fears that the trump-up charges leveled against Hon. Dr. Farah Dagogo by the governor is a well-calculated attempt, masterminded by the governor and his co-conspirators to put Dagogo away, and out of circulation and scuttle his governorship aspiration.

“At the thanksgiving service, the governor admitted in public, what was being rumored in private, that he wields lots of influence in the judiciary and as such would frustrate and prevent any bail application for Hon. Dr. Farah Dagogo.

“We want to believe that the judiciary remains the very hope for a fair adjudication and the coming days will tell us more.

“He (Wike) equally justified his illegal declaration of Hon. Dagogo a ‘cultist and a criminal’ in conformity with his attempt to tarnish the image of the federal lawmaker.

“Contrary to the misinformation the governor peddled in the House of God, Hon. Dr. Farah Dagogo, is not a criminal, he has never been charged as one, nor has he been convicted of such an offense. His record remains unblemished.

“The story of the Niger Delta agitation and struggle is in the public domain and Hon. Dr. Farah Dagogo had stated his role publicly, the sacrifices and the overtures he rejected.”