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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The embattled passenger on the Ibom Air Abuja-Lagos flight who vowed that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu would not be sworn in as president is a senior lawyer.
The Police has announced that he would be arraigned in court on Monday on charges bordering on criminal intimidation and public disturbance.
According to CITY LAWYER, Mr. Obiajulu Hansel Uja, was admitted to the Nigerian Bar, having successfully passed his Nigerian Bar Examination in July 2000 with a Second Class (Lower Division) grade.
In a trending video on Friday, Uja was seen being restrained and evacuated from the Abuja-Lagos flight by no less than six airport security officers. He was heard shouting, “Obidients, you’re here. They are doing this to me. Obidients, you’re here, I am naked. Obidients you’re here, I am going naked.”
The 6pm flight was delayed for about one hour over the incident.
The medium reports that Uja is duly enrolled with the Supreme Court of Nigeria as a Solicitor and Advocate, adding that a search on the Nigerian Bar Association portal also showed that the senior lawyer is a member of the lawyers’ body.
Uja is a Director in F. O. Education Services Limited located at Shalom Plaza, Gudu District, Abuja, and also a Trustee Secretary in Angels Base Prophetic & Deliverance Ministry, a church based in FESTAC, Lagos State.
Meanwhile, Uja’s lawyer, Ejike Ugwu, has decried his planned arraignment, saying that he is not in a good mental state to withstand criminal trial.
Ugwu told The PUNCH that Uja was a former bank worker in Lagos, adding that he had been in Abuja for a few weeks.
His words: “The man (Uja) worked with Zenith Bank until he developed some health issues. Some days ago, Riz Continental Hotel, Abuja, chased him away from the hotel because of his mental instability.”
According to Ugwu, Uja bought three tickets on Friday for Lagos bound flights, noting that on getting to the airport, he had issues with almost all the airlines before he eventually boarded Ibom Air.
Ugwu, who visited the senior lawyer at the Nigeria Police Airport Command where he was held, said that when he queried him, “he told us that he wanted to market his products and that he was just trying to get the attention of the passengers when he raised the issue of Asiwaju will not be sworn in.”
“If you go through his social media, you will understand that he is not even a member of the Obedient movement. But the long and short of it is that the man is mentally unstable. After he was arrested and the DPO saw reports in the media, the DPO confided in me that the man is not a normal person.
“It’s just the system; I told the DPO that you do not even need a medical certificate from the family but as an investigator, employ the services of a psychiatrist to confirm the mental stability of the man. But as I speak with you, I left the police station around 5pm and we have not seen the DPO today in the station. I told the DPO that this man needs medical attention immediately before the whole system will collapse.
“He has a kidney problem; if you see his legs you will see how swollen they are. You can only investigate someone that is alive,” the lawyer added.
The Assistant Secretary General of Aviation Round Table, Olumide Ohunayo, said: “The man doesn’t appear okay. I mean he started misbehaving from the check-in counter, so they ought to have alerted the crew that an agitated person was going on board; he even didn’t appear okay when he was asked to leave the aircraft. However, we need to be careful of copycats.”
The Investigating Police Officer, Benson Okoh, also said: “He’s with us, I was trying to confirm to the PPRO. However, he’ll be charged to court on Monday for criminal intimidation and inciting public disturbance.”