Generally bail is a contract/agreement between a defendant (commonly called an accused person) and the court that the defendant will have a temporary liberty (right to move freely) pending his trial and shall appear in court throughout the trial. The agreement is normally in written form and is called a “bail bond”
The bail bond normally stipulates that the defendant cannot be released until he brings a surety (someone who will assure the court that the defendant would always be in court). The terms may also include a requirement that the surety must be someone who has money worth certain amount, example 50M. THIS HOWEVER DOES NOT MEAN that the defendant SHALL pay the 50M as a condition for his release. No! What it means is that if the defendant jumps bail (fails to appear in court when required and as agreed upon in the bail bond without cogent reason), his surety shall forfeit the money. But if he appears in court all the time, the money remains his own.
By reason of the foregoing, whenever you hear that someone had been granted 10M bail, know that what the court means is that anyone who is to stand as a surety to the defendant must afford 10M and shall forfeit the 10M Naira if the defendant jumps bail. Simple!
– O. G. Chukkol.
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