The embattled President General of the National Association of Plant Operators (NAPO), alongside three other officials of the association have been granted bail by a Rivers State Magistrate Court.

Harold Benstowe, John Jumbo, Christian Onwuamalam and Monday Mbasi were granted bail today by the presiding Magistrate, Amadi Nnah, on Monday, October 24, 2022 at Magistrate Court 10 in Port Harcourt.

The quartet, who were arrested on Wednesday, October 12, 2022 by the Department of State Services (DSS) Port Harcourt, Rivers State, were handed over to the Operation Sting Squad of the Rivers State Police Command, which charged them to court on Thursday, October 13, 2022.

They were arraigned in court on a two-count charge of conspiracy and economic sabotage by the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) on Thursday, October 13, 2022 in suit number: PMC/RMP/025A/2022 at the Rivers State Magistrate Court 10 sitting in Port Harcourt before Magistrate Amadi Nnah.

Mr. Nnah had to remand them at the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre, Dockyard, Bundu-Ama in Port Harcourt as part of the prayers of the Police which requested more time to conclude its investigation and adjourned the case to Monday, October 24, 2022.

When the case came up for hearing on Monday, after submissions by Eniyepere Sikpi, a Superintendent of Police (SP), who is the Legal Officer of Operation Sting, Port Harcourt, representing the prosecuting authority, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF); and M. M. Kalu, Counsel to the defendants, Mr. Amadi Nnah granted bail to the four defendants.

The defendants were mandated to appear in Court to undergo trials as a guarantee to the court for the bail.

In a chat with Kristina Reports, the NAPO President General, Harold Benstowe said the incarceration experience and court arraignment were part of the sacrifices he and the other defendants had to make in the struggle to secure improved working conditions for Nigerian workers, urging members of NAPO to remain calm as the provisions of the Nigerian Labour laws are appropriated for justice for the workers of Daewoo Engineering and Construction Nigeria Limited (DECN) and others.