The trial of Rep. Alexander Ikwechegh will commence on November 8, at a Kuje Magistrate Court in Abuja.
Ikwechegh, a member of the House of Representatives representing Abia State, was charged in court for assaulting a Bolt driver, Stephen Abuwatseya.
The lawmaker who had initially announced to his colleagues and Nigerians that the issue had been amicably settled between him and Abuwatseya was charged to court by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, on three counts bordering on abuse of office, assault, and threat to life.
Currently on bail having met the condition of N500,000 and two sureties, Ikwechegh will continue to appear in court till judgment is delivered. If found guilty, the lawmaker will spend at least two years in jail.
Section 104 of the Criminal Code Act in Nigeria ascribes a jail term of three years for anybody found guilty of a misdemeanor.
According to the section, “Any person who, being employed in the public service, does or directs to be done in abuse of the authority of his office, any arbitrary act prejudicial to the rights of another, is guilty of a misdemeanour and is liable to imprisonment for two years.”
The section goes on to say thus, “If the act is done or directed to be done for purposes of gain he is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for three years.”
In the case of Ikwechegh, it would be recalled that the victim Abuwatseya while recounting his ordeal in the hands of his assailant noted that he was bundled to a police station by security personnel attached to Ikwechegh who subsequently ensured that his car was impounded after he had been slapped twice by Ikwechegh.
If found guilty of the charges, Ikwechegh will spend at least two years in jail. The lawmaker who was arraigned on Wednesday, before His Worship, Abubakar Umar Sai’id, for allegedly assaulting a Bolt driver, Stephen Abuwatseya, at his residence in Abuja, pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him.
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