THE former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olisa Metuh has accused the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government of intimidating medical personnel that are in charge of his ill-health.

Metuh and his company, Destra Investments Limited are standing trial over alleged N400 million they received from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).

In a press statement by one of Metuh’s counsel, Mr Benchuks Nwosu, titled: “Undue Political Interest and Interference in the Case of Chief Olisa Metuh, issued on Tuesday, the lawyer noted that the APC-led government had sustained a vicious media campaign against his client in recent days over his ailment.

“In the past few weeks, we have witnessed statements, sponsored articles and comments by the All Progressive Congress (APC) and some federal government office holders and apologists in furtherance of the well- funded media trial against our Client, Chief Olisa Metuh.”

The statement read in part: “More disturbing is the direct threat, harassment and intimidation of medical personnel and institutions involved in the treatment and management of our client’s ill-health. We have instances and evidence of these APC controlled agents and agencies directly interfering with the various hospitals that have admitted Chief Metuh in the last two months but the latest is the letter written by APC to the Wellington Hospital, London, U.K, depicting our client as an enemy of the Nigerian state and one that should not even access to medical treatment abroad.

“It should be recalled that the APC and government officials had launched a massive campaign to ridicule, mock and make cruel jokes of Chief Metuh’s appearance on a stretcher and subsequently in a wheelchair in his obedience to the Rulings and Orders of Justice Abang.

“These people are quite aware that the learned Judge had ruled that he will no longer accept medical reports from any doctor in Nigeria. On the same day, the Court ordered that Metuh must appear in Court at the next adjourned date and the only clear choice for a bedridden person would be to appear in Court with his hospital bed or in a stretcher.

“The clear fact, as evidenced by his MRI report, is that Chief Olisa Metuh has severe spondylosis with disc herniations, cord and nerve root compressions in his Cervical, Thoracic and Lumbosacral spine. This has resulted in semi-paralysis and we have even gone further in open Court to request that the prosecution be allowed to conduct their own independent clinical examination of the person involved.

“Our Client has not left the confines of a hospital or his own bedroom for the past 2 months except to attend Court proceedings. He spent several hours in Court on the 14th of March, 2018 and had to be taken straight to the hospital to be sedated with pentadiene injection and other strong painkillers. In order to be present in Court on subsequent days (15th and 16th of March 2018), he also had to take the strong painkiller injections early morning before the sittings. This, however, resulted in our Client being semi-drowsy on the 15th and 16th and was clearly unable to even observe or follow the proceedings in open Court.

“In any case, are these people not aware that it is only in Chief Olisa Metuh’s matter that the issue of release of passport for an accused person has been such an impossibility?” the lawyer queried.