EFCC stalls arraignment of Sen Jang, court fixes Wednesday for hearing

ARRAIGNMENT of the former Governor of Plateau State now a senator representing Plateau North, Senator Jonah Jang was stalled on Monday at Jos High Court as the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) could not produce the former governor due to logistic reasons.

When the case came up for hearing, Counsel to the EFCC, Mr. Rotimi Jacobs told the court that the matter could not be continued because his client could not be arraigned due to logistic reasons and filed an exparte application to adjourn the case till tomorrow (Wednesday) whenJang and his cashier while in office would be in court.

Leading Counsel to Senator Jang Chief Rotimi Williams (SAN) said he was shocked by the exparte application he met adding that he was 50 years in legal practice and surprised that such application could be filed without considering the circumstances and trouble of travelling from Lagos to Jos.

He said Senator Jang was a law-abiding citizen who had served his fatherland faithfully but was picked by a federal agency which has refused to recognize his status and has continued to hold on to him since last week Monday.

Agreeing with Rotimi Jacob, Justice Daniel Longji of the Jos High Court adjourned the matter till tomorrow (Wednesday) for hearing of the application for bail.

Meanwhile, there was a protest and counter-protest by both supporters of Jang and those against his release at the court premises on Monday. Tribune Online findings revealed the Senator Jang supporters stormed the court as early as 7:00 am to express their displeasure over the arrest and continued detention of Jang by the EFCC.

They carried placards with vatiou inscriptions denouncing the government and Economic and Financial Crime Commission. Some of the placards read: “FG stop persecuting political opponents, Free Jang among others.”

While the protest was going on there was another protest by some youths calling for the prosecution of Senator Jang. Some of the placards they branded read, “Jang why are you afraid if you not guilty, you are not above the law submit your self.”

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However, the Media Consultant to Senator Jang Mr. Garuba Clinton in a statement said Jang cannot be broken, dispirited, or intimidated adding that his resolve to be strong for his people is intact while his opinion against a government which allows the killing of innocents in the Middle-Belt is unchanged.

“His position against the transfer of ancestral lands from the people of the Middle-Belt to herdsmen for grazing reserves or colonies is emphatic. His criticism of the government and its totalitarian tendencies is unstoppable. Therefore, his persecution in the hands of the EFCC will not yield the intended result envisaged when the plot was orchestrated.”

Clinton called on the EFCC to be as law abiding as Senator Jonah Jang by charging him to court where he is ready to defend himself adding that this will save Nigerians the discomfort of following another boring misadventure typical of the theatrics that has pervaded Nigeria political landscape in recent times.