A Magistrate’s Court in Wuse, Abuja, has remanded Professor Zainab Duke Abiola in the Suleja Custodial Centre after she was arraigned for assaulting her orderly Inspector Teju Moses.
She was arraigned on Friday along with domestic aide Rebecca Enechido a day after their arrest.
They were arraigned by the Chief magistrate court in zone 6 for the offenses of
criminal conspiracy, causing criminal hurt without provocation, attempt to commit culpable homicide, and an intentional insult to cause a breach of trust.
The police arrested both women on Thursday after a video showing her injured police orderly went viral.
In the video, the officer is seen in uniform bleeding, seated on the floor, and asking to be taken to the hospital for medical attention.
The police accused her of attempting to commit culpable homicide and breach of trust.
At the arraignment, both women were denied bail and the Magistrate ordered them to be remanded in the Suleja Custodial Centre.
The Magistrate adjourned the case till October 5.
On Thursday, the Inspector-General of Police, Alkali Baba, condemned the assault.
According to a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer CSP Muyiwa Adejobi announcing the arrest of both women, the police were still on the hunt for a male aide of the professor believed to have been involved in the assault.
“The IGP strongly condemned the grievous assault of a female Police Officer, Inspector Teju Moses, by her principal who is a legal practitioner and human rights activist, Prof. Zainab Duke Abiola, and her domestic staff comprising the housemaid, one Rebecca Enechido and a male suspect currently at large,” the statement read in part.
Meanwhile, Professor Abiola, who is a human rights activist and lawyer, has denied assaulting the officer.
According to a statement issued by the Afro-European Lawyers League on her behalf, the allegations against her were not true.
The statement read, “Our attention has been drawn to a fallacious malicious defamatory publication against our respected Alumnus of the National Institute of Policy and Security Studies, NIPPS, Professor Zainab Duke Mni alleging assault on one of her police Orderlies. We categorically state that this is NOT true and Nothing could be further from the truth. For the records, our respected revered Professor Zainab has Never assaulted anybody anywhere at any time. It is not in her character.
“The facts are: 1. That on the 20th of April 2022 the IGP approved the revalidation and deployment of police Orderlies to our leader based on the fact that she is the Chief Legal Consultant to the Nigerian Police and has her office at the Force headquarters, Abuja.
“2. That the police consequently assigned a female police officer who was among the perpetrators of Violence against innocent Nigerian Citizens during the ENDSARS imbroglio.
“3. That consequent upon discovery of her Orderly’s involvement in police brutality against Nigerians that Professor Zainab rejected the posting of a brutal officer and returned the said Orderly back to Force Headquarters to her bosses and told her Bye bye on the 19th of September.
“4. That to our surprise around 10 pm the former Orderly returned with a Vengeance banging on our gates with some dangerous weapons including a gun threatening to kill everybody in the compound and that the police Orderly beat up family members in the Professor’s household.
“5. That as can be seen in the video a crowd soon gathered and there was street brawling crowd fighting and loss of properties.
“6. That it is very strange that the IGP will forcefully, brutally and illegally violate the fundamental Rights and liberties of a distinguished law-abiding citizen and proceed to forcefully take her pictures and maliciously publish same in the print and electronic media in this nascent democratic dispensation.”