Senator Dino Melaye Releases Statement On Arrest By Police- "I did not jump out of the van"

Senator Dino Melaye, who is currently at the National Hospital, Abuja after he allegedly made an attempt to escape from Police yesterday, has released a statement on his arrest. 

Gideon Ayodele, the Special Adviser to Senator Dino Melaye, on Tuesday, faulted reports that his principal jumped out of a moving vehicle in an attempt to stop police move to take him to Lokoja, the Kogi State capital.

Ayodele in a statement titled

“Today’s Incident Involving Senator Dino Melaye: A Last Resort”, Gideon noted that it was not possible for Melaye to have jumped out of a moving police vehicle when he was surrounded by armed policemen.

The statement read: “Sequel to the avalanche of calls by well-meaning Nigerians and supporters of Melaye for enquiries about the well-being and safety of the senator and against the backdrop of baseless rumours being spread on the social media, we are constrained to set the record straight as follows:

“Earlier in the morning, Senator Dino Melaye as a law-abiding citizen voluntarily submitted himself to the operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) who had laid siege to his private residence since 3.35pm of Monday, April 23, 2018.

“He, along with his lawyers and personal aides, was driven in his private car to the SARS office in Guzape district of Abuja, sandwiched among the numerous police vehicles earlier deployed in his house.

“For the avoidance of doubt, he had never evaded police invitation before now because there was none extended to him in the first place. Rather, what the Police Force PRO, Mr. Jimoh Moshood, had been doing was to summon the senator through media briefings, a practice which is unconventional.

“But given the media hype the whole saga had generated, especially his unwarranted travails in the hands of immigration officials at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Aiport in Abuja on Monday, April 23, and the attendant but dramatic police siege to his private residence thereafter, where family members and political associates were subjected to a traumatic experience for hours, it became necessary for Senator Dino Melaye to end the drama, hence his choice of appearing before the police today (Tuesday).

“Later on, they moved to take him to Lokoja in Kogi State. The public will vividly recall that the case involving Senator Dino Melaye had already been transferred to Abuja by the Chief Justice of the Federal High Court after Senator Melaye expressed worry about his safety in Lokoja.

“Now, the question is why will they want to forcefully take him to Lokoja? The senator believes they are doing the Kogi governor’s bidding in order to assassinate him.

“Today’s incident was a last resort by Senator Dino Melaye in order to foil the attempt to kill him by agents of the Kogi State governor in connivance with the police,” the statement said.