Some hoodlums on Thursday, invaded the Magistrate Court in Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State and freed several criminal suspects that were on trial.
The hoodlums who invaded the court in their numbers, overpowered police officers from the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) who were guarding the court.
The suspects were arraigned at the court in Ogwashi-Uku on charges of assaulting some members of the Ogwashi-Uku vigilance group.
The suspects allegedly attacked the security maintenance volunteers armed with dangerous weapons, including machetes, inflicting serious wounds on several of the vigilance group members.
Four male suspects nabbed by the police were identified as Elue Nwaolise, Azuka Obata, Ifechukwude Ikewenji, and Osim Okelue.
The four suspects were brought before the Magistrate Court 1 in Ogwashi-Uku, Aniocha South Local Government Area of the state by the security personnel.
However, trouble reportedly started when the police arraigned them but the suspects were subsequently granted bail by the magistrate but with stringent bail conditions.
The court officials were preparing to take the suspects into custody at the nearby correctional centre because they could not immediately perfect their bail conditions, including verification of the required sureties, when the mob action occurred.
The hoodlums then launched a surprise attack on the officials with two armed police escorts from the state CID, overpowered the officers and freed the suspects who were still in handcuffs.
The hoodlums also attacked the backup security agents that the court officials had called from the Ogwashi-Uku Divisional Police headquarters, and assaulted some of the policemen.
The mob action at the Magistrate Court in Ogwashi-Uku and the forceful release of the suspects have reportedly left the state police Command authorities embarrassed and furious.