Assassination claim: Court refuses move to arrest Senator Natasha, orders service of papers

A Federal High Court in Abuja has rejected an application by the federal government seeking to arrest Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan following an alleged assassination claim. Justice Muhammed Umar on Monday ruled that Akpoti-Uduaghan has not been served with the charges in person after the prosecution counsel David Kaswe informed the court that her counsel had […]

A Federal High Court in Abuja has rejected an application by the federal government seeking to arrest Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan following an alleged assassination claim.

Justice Muhammed Umar on Monday ruled that Akpoti-Uduaghan has not been served with the charges in person after the prosecution counsel David Kaswe informed the court that her counsel had been served.

While moving for a bench warrant to be issued on Akpoti-Uduaghan, Kaswe submitted that she ought to be aware of the matter since her counsel was served.

However, the judge said it was inconceivable that she would appear in the court since the service on her counsel could not serve as a sufficient notice to her.

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Following the court’s hint, the prosecution team requested a substituted service of the charges through the defendant’s counsel, Johnson Usman Esq.

The judge granted the application and fixed June 30 for a hearing.

The charges against Akpoti-Uduaghan were linked to an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, on April 3, 2025, wherein she accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio and former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello of plotting to assassinate her.

The charge alleged that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan committed offences contrary to Section 391 of the Penal Code Law, Cap 89, Laws of the Federation, 1990 and punishable under Section 392 of the same law.

The federal government alleged, thus, “That you, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan on or about the 3rd day of April 2025, during the same Politics Today programme on Channels Television in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, made the following imputation concerning Yahaya Adoza Bello, former Governor of Kogi State.”

The federal government also accused the embattled senator of having, in the TV interview, made an imputation concerning Senator Akpabio, saying that, “It was part of the meeting, the discussions that Akpabio had with Yahaya Bello that night to eliminate me.

She was quoted as saying, “Let’s ask the Senate President, why in the first instance did he withdraw my security, if not to make me vulnerable to attacks. He then emphasised that I should be killed, but I should be killed in Kogi.

“What is important to me is to stay alive, because dead men tell no tales, who is going to get justice for me?” she added.