Nigerian journalist Agba Jalingo granted bail after 174 days in detention

Agba Jalingo, a Nigerian journalist accused of treason, has been granted bail by the court.

Jalingo bail came after spending 174 days in detention in both the police cell and Calabar prison.

He was arrested on August 22, 2019, over a report alleging that Cross River state governor, Ben Ayade, diverted 500 million naira belonging to the state.

Justice Sule Shuaibu of the federal high court, Calabar, granted the journalist 10 million naira bail, following an application from his lawyer, Attah Ochinke.

The court asked that those standing as surety for the journalist must make a refundable deposit of 700,000 naira to court registry to perfect the bail.

Earlier, Jalingo was denied bail twice by another judge, Simon Amobeda, who recently withdrew from the case after a secret recording where he allegedly made some biased remarks against Mr Jalingo, was leaked to the press late last year.