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A High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State has discharged and acquitted Dr Farah Dagogo, a former member of the House of Representatives, of criminal charges brought against him by the Rivers State Government.
Dagogo was arrested on April 28, 2022, in Port Harcourt when he appeared for screening as a governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Former Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, had declared him wanted, alleging he sponsored thugs and cultists to disrupt the PDP screening exercise for National Assembly and State Assembly aspirants.
Dagogo vehemently denied the allegations, asserting that they were fabricated to prevent him from contesting the governorship position.
In his ruling on Monday in suit no. PHC/1440/CR/2022, Justice Chinwendu Nworgu of the Port Harcourt High Court expressed dismay at the prosecution’s lack of diligence and subsequently discharged and acquitted Dagogo of all charges.
Dagogo had been on bail since June 2022 after spending 63 days in detention.
Speaking after the court session, Dagogo’s lead counsel, Cosmas Enweluzo, SAN, stated that the ruling had completely freed Dagogo of all encumbrances, emphasizing that the case cannot be resurrected in any court of law in the country.
“The matter has just ended. The court dismissing the charge and discharging and acquitting the defendant which is Hon. Doctor Farah Dagogo. And this is premised on the fact that there is absolute lack of diligent prosecution.
“The prosecution has lost its steam and so because of that, the court cannot forever keep an accused or defendant perpetually attending the court, restraining his movements and stopping him from using his precious time and subjecting everything about him to abysmal waste.
“As a result of that, the court, after its consideration, struck out the charge and then discharged and acquitted the defendant. That means that no means or form of other charges can be brought up in any court of law against Hon. Doctor Farah Dagogo as a result of this charge.
“Any further action taken will be seen as double jeopardy because of the fact that decision has been taken in this matter. In order words, the decision has rested the case fully and finally, not to resurrect again.”
