A Federal High court in Calabar, Cross River State, presided over by Justice Sule Shuaibu has granted bail to journalist and rights activist, Agba Jalingo.
Justice Shuaibu sat over the case for the first time after taking over from Justice Simon Amobeda who recused himself from the case following condemnations that trailed refusals to grant the journalist bail on three occasions.
In his ruling while granting bail applied by Agba Jalingo, Justice Shuaibu set the bail bond at N10 million with one surety in like sum who must be resident within the jurisdiction of the court and his address must be physically verified.
The judge added that the surety is expected to deposit N700,000 cash with the registrar of the court who will then pay it into an interest yielding account with a commercial bank while Jalingo must seek the permission of court to travel out of the country if he wants to travel.
“Agba Jalingo must deposed to an oath that he will be available in court while he and his surety must present two passport photographs.”
Justice Shuaibu ordered that the proceedings of the court on the matter shall not be a matter of public discourse and subsequently adjourned the matter to the 6th, 7th and 8th days of April 2020 for the prosecution to open and close its case while other motions may be treated before that day.
Newsmen note that Jalingo has spent 175 days in detention before bail was granted.
The trial, by the Cross River state government, had drawn local and international attention with several individuals and organisations demanding his unconditional release.