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Tag: businessman

  • Lagos High Court sentences businessman, 47, to 25 years for defiling baby

    Lagos High Court sentences businessman, 47, to 25 years for defiling baby

    Lagos High Court, Igbosere yesterday sentenced a 47-year-old businessman, Maduabuchi Onwuta, to 25 years imprisonment for defiling a 16-month-old baby.

    Justice Sedotan Ogunsanya in her judgment held that the prosecution had proved its case beyond doubt.

    “I am satisfied that the prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

    “I find the defendant guilty of the offence of defilement; he is sentenced to 25 years imprisonment, which will begin from the date of sentencing.”

    During the trial, the prosecution led by Mr. Adebayo Haroun alleged that the convict committed the offence on November 26, 2013, at Isheri, Lagos.

    He said:  “The convict had been a long-time family friend of the complainant. He and the complainant’s uncle were secondary school classmates.

    “He helped the complainant’s mother by subletting a room in his apartment to her when she had accommodation problems.

    “On the fateful day, the complainant’s mother took her daughter to Onwuta’s bedroom and put the toddler in his care, while she went to take her bath.

    “After her bath, she approached her daughter and the child kept crying and pointing at her underwear, saying, ‘mummy see, see’. She checked the child’s underwear and noticed blood.

    “Her mother took her to hospital where tests confirmed that her hymen had been ruptured.

    “On the day of the alleged defilement, only the complainant, her mother and the convict were at home.”

    Onwuta, in his testimony on February 6, 2017, however, denied the allegations.

    He said: “The baby’s mother gave me the baby to watch over her while she went to take her bath.

    “There were four of us at home on that fateful day; the baby, her mother, the mother’s young niece and I.

    “I, however, fell asleep and did not know what happened to the baby during the time I was asleep.

    “I was awoken by the baby’s mother, who said the baby was bleeding from her private parts.

    “She accused me of defiling her daughter, but I did not defile the 16-month-old baby.”

    The complainant’s mother, a policewoman and Dr. John Bankole, a doctor, testified for the prosecution during the trial.

    Bankole said medical examination showed bruising and signs of forceful trauma to the child’s private parts.

    The doctor noted that the toddler had a broken and bridged hymen.

    He said a creamy discharge was found around her private parts, which could have been seminal fluid.

     

  • Businessman charged with N2m fraud

    Businessman charged with N2m fraud

    A 43-year-old businessman, Kamal Ajas, was yesterday arraigned at a Wuse Zone 2 Senior Magistrates’ Court, Abuja, for allegedly defrauding a man of N2 million.

    Ajas, of Apo Resettlement, Abuja, was arraigned on a two-count charge of criminal breach of trust and cheating.

    The Prosecutor, Otu Urom, told the court that Sule Musa, of Asokoro, petitioned the Area Command, Maitama, Abuja, on November 28.

    He said the defendant collected N2 million from the complainant with the pretence of securing a contract for him in the Ministry of Health.

    The prosecutor said the complainant demanded his money when he did not get the contract.

    Urom said the defendant issued the complainant a N2 million dud cheque, adding, however, that N1.2 million was later recovered from him.

    The prosecutor said that the offences contravened sections 312 and 322 of the Penal Code.

    The defendant pleaded not guilty.

    Senior Magistrate Musa Jobbo granted him N500,000 bail with a surety, who must live within the court’s jurisdiction.

    He adjourned the case till Februay 6.

  • Businessman in trouble for fraud

    Businessman in trouble for fraud

    A businessman, Ikechukwu Okongwu, has been arraigned  at an Ogudu Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, for allegedly obtaining a loan of six million naira through false pretence.

    Okongwu, 46, of Ago Palace Way, Okota, Lagos, was charged with obtaining the money from Supreme Micro-Finance Bank.

    He was accused of fraudulently diverting and converting a Nissan Quest bus, valued at N1.5 million.

    The bus, said to be the property of the bank, was sold by Okongwu without consent of the bank.

    The businessman was accused of issuing dud GTBank cheques and pretending to have money in his GTBank account prior to issuance of the cheques.

    The prosecutor, Lucky Ihiehie, told the court that the offence was committed on December 2012 at the bank at Alhaja Abass Street, Ogudu Road, Ojota, Lagos.

    He said the complainant, Ayo Ajibolu, counsel to Supreme Microfinance Bank, submitted a petition against the accused to the State Intelligence Bureau, Area H Command, Ogudu, Lagos.

    “Sometime in December 2011, the accused obtained a personal loan of N3 million and another loan of N3 million for his company, Signetyke International.

    “The sum of N2,002,00 is outstanding for the first loan and N651, 313, 35 is outstanding for the second loan. Efforts by the bank to recover the balance proved abortive.

    “On September 30, 2012 and December 28, 2012, the accused issued four dud cheques of N500, 000 each to the bank.”

    The prosecutor noted that the offences contravened sections 292 and 393 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

    The accused pleaded not guilty.

    The Magistrate, Mrs. O. Sule-Amzat, admitted the accused to bail at N400,000 with two sureties, whose addresses must be verified.

    She ordered that the sureties must be related to the accused and resident in Lagos State.

    Sule-Amzat said both sureties must be taxpayers and must present evidence of rent and other utility bills.

    The case was adjourned till December 6 for mention.

     

     

  • Businessman sues Delta govt over N44m contract breach

    A businessman has sued the Delta State government to court for an alleged breach of contract.

    The claimant, DL Consultants, through his lawyer Olayemi Oyebola, told the court that the government is refusing to pay the N44,023, 321.66 commission due to his client from an outstanding balance.

    Oyebola argued that his client helped the state recover debts owed by the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), but it has since confiscated the percentage due to his client.

    Joined in the suit are the State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Commissioner for Finance, Patrick Uzoka and Company, and Bizplus Consultancy Services Limited.

    Oyebola prayed the court to declare the action of the defendant as “capricious, wicked, vexation and calculated at ruining the business relationship” being enjoyed with various government agencies in Nigeria and beyond.

    He urged the court to grant 30 per cent interest per annum on the said debt until judgment is given, and thereafter at 35 per cent, until judgment sum is liquidated.

    The plaintiff is further praying the court to grant N20 million as general damages.

    When the matter came up at the High Court in Asaba, yesterday, the defendant’s counsel T.P.I Uriah, said the state had since September 15, filed its statement of defence.

    She applied for an extension of time to be able to reply on the point of law.

    Justice Diai adjourned hearing till January 15, 2018.

     

  • DPO after my land, says businessman

    DPO after my land, says businessman

    •’His claims are false’

    A businessman, Peter Ezeonye, has accused the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Isashi Police Station, Ojo, Superintendent (SP) Amuda, of hiring men to disposes him of his property at Amikanle Estate, Alagbado, Lagos.

    Ezeonye, who owns a three-bedroom bungalow at 10, Community Road, said he has petitioned the Area M Command, Idimu, and the Lagos Police Commissioner, but they have not called the officer to order.

    He alleged that Amuda’s 10 accomplices pulled down his gate and built a fence in its place which split his land in two.

    Then, according to him, they began constructing another building thereby blocking the only entry and exit point of the bungalow.

    In an August 22 letter to the Commissioner, Ezeonye identified the DPO’s alleged accomplices as Akeem Oladejo alias Otunba, Olalekan Adio, Rasaq Abeje and Mama Shola.

    Ezeonye also alleged that Oladejo had been threatening his life and warned him to keep off the property.

    “Sometime in the year 2007, I purchased a one-and-a-half plot of land from Madam Oluwakemi Anifowose for N900,000 at Amikanle, Alagbado, Kola Bus-Stop.

    “I built a three bedroom flat on it and I have been living there for the past nine years.

    “On July 27, four men led by Akeem Oladejo came to my house and said they were legitimate owners of the land I purchased from Madam Anifowose.

    “A few weeks later, Oladejo and several other persons came with some thugs bearing life-threatening weapons and began chasing everyone and destroying my properties worth millions of naira. So, I had to flee from the house along with my family.”

    Ezeonye said the parties were advised to maintain the status quo by the Commander of Area M, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Akika Austin, but the “land grabbers” continued to build on his land.

    According to him, his lawyer, Ifeanyi Onyejiaka, took up the matter last Tuesday at the Police Command in Ikeja, where four policemen from Alagbon were assigned to visit the scene.

    He said he learnt that a skirmish broke out at the scene between the policemen and alleged thugs, which led to a shootout that may have killed one of Oladejo’s men.

    Onyejiaka and the policemen, Ezeonye added, were subsequently arrested by policemen from the Alagbado Police Station.

    “As I speak, Onyejiaka and my tenant, Lazarus Chukwu, have been in detention in Panti, Yaba, since last Tuesday.

    “I just want justice. I want my property back and I want to be living in it without fear of attacks from land grabbers,” Ezeonye told The Nation.

    He said he had reported the matter to the Lagos State Task Force on Land Grabbers which invited Oladejo, who refused to show up but sent his lawyer, following which they were given another date to appear.

    But Oladejo denied being involved in the case. He said Ezeonye’s claims were untrue but admitted that it was his brother that was allegedly shot by the police.

    He said: “I didn’t sell land to him, I didn’t encroach on the land. What is my business with the land? Is it not because of the land my brother was killed last Tuesday? Are his people not the ones that went to get policemen from Alagbon that came and killed my mother’s son, a 55-year-old man? The corpse is still in Yaba now, he’s yet to be buried. The policemen have been arrested and are at Panti. Many people have been arrested because of the land.

    “He wanted me to take his side in the struggle for the land, but I refused. Why is he after me? He has reported me to the Task Force on Land Grabbers at Alausa. They have given me till November 15 to appear.”

    A police source, who refused to be named, confirmed last Tuesday’s shooting, but stated that Onyejiaka and the policemen that accompanied him acted illegally and would face trial.

    “They were on illegal duty. They left their command without authorisation and failed to introduce themselves to the nearest police station in the Area. They shot and killed a man on the land and they will all soon be charged to court for murder,” the source said.

    Police spokesman Olarinde Famous-Cole, an Assistant Superintendent (SP) was yet to respond to the matter as at press time yesterday.

  • Businessman urges court to reverse ruling on EFCC seizure

    Businessman urges court to reverse ruling on EFCC seizure

    United Arab Emirates-based Nigerian businessman, Mr.  Olalekan Olakehinde, has urged the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, to reverse a decision by the FCT High Court.

    Sitting as a vacation judge, Justice Yusuf Halilu dismissed Olakehinde’s rights’ violation suit instituted against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for illegaly seizing 18 cars, on display for sale, in Abuja.

    The anti-graft commission alleged that the cars were suspected to have been bought with proceeds of crime. But the car dealer claimed the seizure was carried out without lawful authorisation.

    In his six-ground notice of appeal filed on September 12 by his counsel, Aliyu Umar (SAN), the businessman is seeking a reversal of the ruling.

    The  dealer contended that the trial erroneously substituted his complaint of rights’ violation to own property to that of rights’ violation to dignity of person.

    “The learned judge erred in law when he substituted the appellant’s cause of action from a complaint of breach of fundamental human rights to own personal property to that of a case of applicant’s right to human dignity.”

    In the notice, the businessman said the judge failed to make a pronouncement on the legality or otherwise of the seizure of his cars by the EFCC without due process.

    He argued that he was never invited by the EFCC to make him a subject of any criminal investigation warranting the seizure of his cars.

    Besides, the businessman noted that since “no credible evidence was placed before him, it shows that the cars belonged to Mr.  Olalekan Olakehinde based on the original bill of lading and not to Liman Kantigi as asserted by the EFCC in its counter affidavit.”

    According to the notice of appeal, a reversal of the ruling is necessary because “the conclusions of a verdict of dismissal of his case reached by the judge were not based on evidence placed before him.”

    Saying the ruling breached his rights to fair hearing under the 1999 Constitution, the plaintiff urged the court to invoke its powers under Section 15 of its Act in determining the issues in his appeal and order the release of his cars.

    One of  his attorneys, Solomon Tunyan (esq), confirmed the filing of the notice of appeal, adding that the EFCC was served with a copy.

  • Alleged $1m fraud: Businessman petitions Buhari over police handling of case

    • ‘Officer handling case transferred for rejecting bribe from suspects’

    Businessman, Austin Ugochukwu Albert, has petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari over alleged poor handling of a $1million ( N360 million) fraud case he lodged with the Police.

    He said he paid N360 million in exchange for $1million, which he never got.

    He said he was suspecting compromise, abuse of office and corrupt activities by some officers assigned to investigate how he was swindled of the $1million.

    He blamed some officers in the Inspector-General of Police monitoring unit of compromise.

    He alleged that he suspected a corrupt deal of about $200,000 to frustrate his complaint to the police.

    He said the officer handling his case was transferred in a suspicious manner at the prompting of one of the influential suspects, who defrauded him.

    He said he could not understand why the officer was redeployed midway into a crucial investigation in which he had recovered $205,000.

    In a petition through his counsel, Ugochukwu Ezekiel, he urged President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to return his case to the Force Intelligence Unit instead of the Monitoring Unit.

    He said he paid  N360 million with intent to source for $1million for his business.

    But after successfully remitting the N360 million, a group of five suspects involved in the transaction refused to give him the $1million.

    He said: “Our client first reported the matter at Area J Command of the Nigeria Police Force, Ajah, Lagos State, where the suspects made confessional statements that the entire transaction was a fraud but at this point they all refused to give up their kingpin;  Bakare.

    “The matter was later transferred to Zone 2 Command of the Nigeria Police Force, Lagos on the orders of the Assistant Inspector General of Police, who equally ordered that all accounts already frozen by the Police pursuant to their investigation activities be unfrozen. Our client was dissatisfied and wrote a petition to the Inspector General of Police.

    “Unfortunately, the officers that investigated the matter at Inspector General of Police monitoring unit compromised the matter, refused to arrest the kingpin, who had been identified as  Bakare.

    “They hurriedly charged the matter to a Magistrate Court in Abuja, which to their knowledge, has no jurisdiction to entertain the matter.

    “The suspects were subsequently set free on ridiculous bail conditions and this emboldened them as they called our client and demanded that our client should not pursue the matter anymore or he would be eliminated.

    “To forestall the materialisation of their threat, our client wrote a fresh petition to the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department and the matter was assigned to the Force Intelligence Bureau for investigation.

    “On learning of the embarrassing situation, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Inspector General of Police monitoring unit quickly transferred the case file to the Force Intelligence Bureau for a review and unbiased investigation..

    “Our client must confess that the Force Intelligence Bureau acted professionally and intelligently and within weeks rounded up the suspects and obtained an order from the Federal High Court to have them detained pending investigation.

    “We are aware that the head of Force Intelligence Bureau was offered  some huge amount of money as bribe and he turned it down.

    “To our client’s utter consternation, our client got information that  Bakare was boasting while still in detention that he has offered the money that was rejected by men of Force Intelligence Bureau to some officers  in the Monitoring Unit and that the case will not only be taken away from that department but the head of that unit, who he described as very strict, will be removed.

    “Our client treated this as the joke of the century and moved on. However, less than 24 hours after our client got the information, the Inspector General of Police sent a signal that the case file be transferred to another unit and that the officer be immediately transferred.”

    The businessman urged the President to use his “good offices to ensure that the case is returned to the Force Intelligence Unit and the honest officer unduly removed be reinstated to that unit”.

  • N15.2m ‘fraud’: businessman’s trial begins November 29

    An Isolo Magistrate’s Court yesterday fixed November 29 for the trial of a businessman, Ikechukwu Odogwu, accused of forgery and fraudulently obtaining N15,170,000 from his business partner, Calistus Okafor, in a land deal.

    Magistrate J. Adeyemi set the date following parties’ agreement that the matter was ripe for trial.

    At the commencement of proceedings yesterday, the defendant observed through his counsel that the case had received attention on national dailies.

    But Magistrate Adeyemi advised the parties to disregard happenings outside the court.

    He said since the case was for mention, the parties should agree on a trial date. They chose November 7.

    The police arraigned Odogwu last August 16 on a three-count charge of conspiracy, forgery and obtaining by false pretence.

    Prosecuting Inspector Steven Molo told the court that the defendant committed the alleged offences sometime in 2009.

    He alleged that Odogwu obtained N15,170,000 from the complainant under the pretence that he had a Power-of-Attorney from a firm, Demco Textile International, to sell 2.5 hectares of land situated at Lugbe 1, Extension Layout, Abuja Municipal Area Council.

    Molo also alleged that the defendant and one other person still at large, sometime in 2016, at Festac Town, conspired to obtain money under false pretence.

    According to the prosecutor, the offences are punishable under Sections 411, 314 (1) (a) and 287 (3) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

    Odogwu pleaded not guilty.

    Magistrate Adeyemi granted him N5 million bail with two sureties in the like sum.

  • Businessman gets 12 months for theft

    A Karmo Grade 1 Area Court in Abuja yesterday sentenced a 22-year-old businessman, Sani Mohammed, to 12 months’ imprisonment for snatching a purse containing N1,000.

    The judge, Mr. Abubakar Sadiq, convicted Mohammed, who pleaded guilty to a charge of joint act and theft.

    He ordered that the purse and phone be returned to the owner.

    The judge advised the convict to be of good behaviour and desist from crimes after serving his term.

    Mohammed, who lives at Utako, Abuja, was charged under sections 79 and 292 of the Penal Code.

    The prosecutor, Mrs. Florence Auhioboh, said Dim Marian of Mabushi Police Station, Abuja, reported the matter at Utako Police Station on August 20.

    The prosecutor said on August 19, about 8:30 pm., the convict and another at large, conspired and accosted the complainant with a knife.

    He said the complainant was trying to board a cab at Nasfat junction, by Yoruba Mosque, Utako, when the convict attacked her and snatched her purse, containing N1,000 and a phone.

    Auhioboh said the complainant shouted, attracting people. The convict was caught, but his accomplice escaped with the purse.

    She said during interrogation, the purse and phone were recovered, but that the N1,000 was not recovered.

    The prosecutor told the court the convict had criminal records and was sentenced by the court.