Operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS) took Enyinnaya Abaribe, senator representing Abia north, to a federal high court in Abuja on Tuesday.
This is Abaribe’s first appearance in court after he was arrested by the DSS on Friday.
Chukwuma-Machukwu Ume, Abaribe’s lawyer, and some close associates, rallied round the lawmaker while his supporters staged a protest to demand his release.
Abaribe was arrested for standing as as a guarantor to Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) who was granted bail in April 2017.
The IPOB leader has not been seen publicly since September. He is standing an alleged treason trial.
Umeh filed an application for Abaribe’s release but Binta Nyako, the judge, declined to grant his request.
She, however, ordered that the senator should be given unhindered access to his lawyer.
At the previous hearing on Kanu’s case, the judge, Binta Nyako, had ordered all the sureties, including Abaribe, to produce Kanu or go to jail.
But a few days to the trial, Abaribe was arrested by security operatives for alleged links with the IPOB members.
On Tuesday, the defence counsel, Ejiofor demanded his release and asked the court to order the federal government to release Abaribe, describing his arrest as illegal and unconstitutional.
But in a ruling, Nyako said she could not give the order for the senator’s release because she was not the one who ordered his arrest.
According to the judge, the circumstances that resulted in Abaribe’s recent arrest were not before her.
She expressed dissatisfaction with counsel on both sides about their manner of handling the case and told them she would not mind prolonging the matter, if they themselves were not serious about carrying it forward.
Abaribe who was escorted to the court by security operatives was not allowed to talk to journalists after the matter, the situation which resulted in a protest, with IPOB members demanding his release.
