The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Court

  • Man charged with stealing starch

    A 39-year-old man, Samuel Egbe, who allegedly stole wine and spray starch  from a supermarket, on Monday appeared before an Ogudu Magistrates’ Court in Lagos State.

    Egbe, who lives on Aminu Street, Ketu, Lagos, is facing a count charge of stealing, but he pleaded not guilty.

    According to the Prosecutor, Insp. Lucky Ihiehie, the accused stole two bottles of wine and two bottles of spray starch from a supermarket belonging to one Mr Tochukwu Okafor.

    Ihiehie said that the accused committed the theft on Nov. 7, at 10.30p.m at No. 455, Ikorodu Road, Ketu, adding that the items worth N17, 900.

    Read Also: Court jails scavenger for buying stolen goods

    “The accused came to the supermarket, pretended to window shop but stole a bottle of black label wine worth N7,000 on Nov. 3

    “Two days after, the accused came again, pretending to buy something in the supermarket and stole a bottle of Jack Daniels wine worth N7,500.

    “Since that day, he was being monitored until Nov. 7 when he came again and stole two spray starch valued at N3, 400, and was apprehended,” he submitted.

    Stealing contravenes Sections 287 and of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015 (Revised).

    The offence is punishable with seven years’ jail term.

    The Magistrate, Mrs E. Kubeinje granted bail to the accused in the sum of N50, 000 with two sureties in like sum, and adjourned the case until Dec. 19, for mention

    NAN

  • Police arraign suspected cultists, terrorising Lagos community

    Eight men who allegedly terrorised members of the public, were on Monday brought before an Ogudu Magistrates’ Court in Lagos by the Police.

    The men are listed as: Olarigbe Olanrewaju, 22; Moses Ademola, 23; Evans Ezikiel, 20; Taiwo Oluwasegun, 19; Ganiyu Bashiru, 21; Wasiu Balogun, 29; Sundau Omete, 24; and Tunde James, 20.

    The men were alleged to have deployed dangerous weapons in a manner to cause breach of peace in the Oke-Iranle area of Ajah, in Lagos.

    They are facing a three-count charge of conspiracy, membership of an unlawful society and unlawful display of arms in the public.

    The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges and were granted bail in the sum of N50, 000 each by the Magistrate, Mrs E. Kubeinje.

    The magistrate in her ruling ordered the accused to produce two sureties each in like sum.

    Read Also: Suspected cultists behead two in Rivers

    In addition, the sureties should show evidence of tax payments, to the Lagos State Government.

    Earlier, Police Prosecutor, Insp. Lucky Ihiehie, told the court that the accused committed the offences on Nov. 8 at Oke-Iranle area of Ajah, in Lagos, at about 11:00 p.m.

    He said that the eight accused, conspired with themselves as members of Eiye Confraternity and engaged themselves in a fight with another group of unknown boys with dangerous weapons.

    “Some members of the public also sustained serious injuries while some properties were destroyed.

    “They were arrested by a team of police men, led by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Langbasa Division, Ajah and transferred to the Anti- Cultism Unit, State CID, Yaba on Nov. 9’’ Ihiehie said.

    The prosecutor said the offences contravened Sections 42 (a), 51 and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015, (Revised).

    The case was adjourned until Dec. 18 for mention

  • Court jails scavenger for buying stolen goods

    A Karmo Grade I Area Court, Abuja, on Monday, sentenced a scavenger, Ibrahim Adamu, to six months imprisonment for buying stolen 10 pieces of steel plate iron pan.

    The 26-year old convict, who resides at Apo Roundabout in Abuja, was arraigned, tried and convicted after he pleaded guilty to one-count charge of buying stolen property.

    The Magistrate, Alhaji Inuwa Maiwada, who sentenced the convict to six months imprisonment, however, gave him an option to pay N10, 000 fine.

    Earlier, the Police Prosecutor, Mrs Ukagha Ijeoma, had told the court that one Momosani Sumaila,of Deep Cover Security guard Ltd., Abuja,  on Aug. 2, reported the matter at the Utako Police Station.

    Read Also: Court upholds CAC’s rejection of same sex group

    Ijeoma alleged that the convict, being a known scrap scavenger, had on Aug. 2, gone to Ujat Company Ltd., at Idu Idustrial Area of Abuja to buy the stolen items..

    She told the court that the accused committed the alleged offence with two of his accomplices, Mases Ikechukwu and Haruna Usman, both employees of Deep Cover Security Ltd., now at large.

    The prosecutor had alleged that the two accomplices loaded stolen 10 pieces of steel plate iron pan worth N37 million into the accused Golf 3 saloon car marked AA 434 SBG before he was arrested.

    During the police investigation, the convict confessed to have been buying such things from Ikechukwu and Usman,’’ she told the court.

    The prosecution said that the offences contravened the provisions of Sections 317 of the Penal code.

    NAN

  • Seamstress bags five month imprisonment

    A Chief Magistrates’ Court in Kaduna on Monday sentenced a 35-year-old seamstress, Martina Felix, to five months imprisonment for absconding with her customer’s fabrics.

    The Magistrate, Ibrahim Emmanuel, sentenced Felix, a resident of Kudenden in Kaduna, after she pleaded guilty to a two-count of criminal breach of trust and cheating.

    Emmanuel, however, gave the convict an option to pay N5, 000 fine.

    Read Also: Alleged motorcycle theft: Court grants N200,000 bail to accused

    He ordered the convict to pay additional N33, 000 as damages for the materials and another N15, 000 for expenses incurred during her prosecution.
    Emmanuel said the convict would get additional one-month imprisonment if she defaulted in her payments.

    Earlier, the Prosecutor, Insp. Chidi Leo, had told the court that Mercy John of Nasarawa in Kaduna State, reported the case at the Kudenden Police Station in Kaduna on Oct. 12.

    Leo said the complainant gave the accused some fabrics to sew in March which she failed to sew.

    “The accused did not make the clothes as agreed and all effort to get the fabrics from her proved abortive.

    “Felix absconded with the fabrics to an unknown destination until she was seen and arrested,” he said.

    Leo said the offence contravened Sections 217 and 292 of the Criminal Law of Kaduna State, 2017.

  • Court jails driver one year for stealing auto parts

    A Yaba Chief Magistrates’ Court yesterday sentenced a 23-year-old driver, Lukman Babalola, to one year in prison for stealing vehicle parts worth  N135,000.

    The theft occurred at the police accidental vehicle garage at Yaba, Lagos Mainland.

    Chief Magistrate Oluwatoyin Oghere sentenced Babalola after he pleaded guilty and begged for leniency.

    Oghere, who gave the convict a N100,000 fine option, said the sentence would deter to others.

    She noted that theft cases were increasing.

    Oghere advised the convict to be of good behaviour.

    Babalola, of no fixed address, was arraigned on October 29 on a two-count charge of conspiracy and stealing.

    Prosecutor Modupe Olaluwoye told the court that the convict on October 14, at about 4am, broke into the police accidental vehicle garage on Herbert Macaulay Way, Sabo, Yaba, Lagos.

    Olaluwoye said Babalola confessed to have stolen a Faragon Volkswagen engine valued at N120,000 and a tyre worth N15,000

    The offence contravenes sections 280 (1) and 411 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015 (Revised).

  • Court jails man for raping cousin

    A Jos Upper Area Court III sitting in Kasuwan Nama, Plateau State, yesterday sentenced a 62-year-old man, Dickson Gambo, to five years in prison for raping his nine-year-old cousin.

    The presiding judge, Mr. Yahaya Mohammed, sentenced Gambo after he pleaded guilty to the charge of rape and begged the court for leniency.

     

     

  • Court dissolves 19-year-old marriage over wife’s adulterous lifestyle

    Chief Ademola Odunade, the President of a Mapo Customary Court in Ibadan, on Tuesday dissolved the 19 year-old  marriage between one Abdulahi Azeez and Mujidat over adultery.

    “If an adulterous spouse does not kill herself, she will definitely kill her husband, therefore the union between Abdulahi and Mujidat has ceased to be.

    “Custody of the last child produced by the union is awarded to Mujidat while Abdulahi is granted custody of the first three.

    “Abdulahi shall pay a monthly allowance of N5,000 for the child’s upkeep in addition to been responsible for her education and other welfare,” he said.

    In his petition, Abdulahi, a businessman who resides at Moniya area of Ibadan said: “for 19 good years my lord, I have endured all sorts of horrors and psychological trauma due to Mujidat’s constant adultery with all shapes of men.

    “As a businessman, I travel around to ensure that Mujidat and her four children are comfortable, however, Mujidat only pays me with infidelity.

    The respondent who opposed the divorce suit also denied the allegations leveled against her.

    Mujidat, a trader,  prayed the court not to dissolve her union with Abdulahi.

  • Labourer gets 12 strokes of cane for smoking

    A Chief Magistrates’ Court in Kaduna, On Thursday ordered that a 23-year-old labourer, Mustapha Jibrin, be given 12 strokes of the cane for smoking at a notorious black spot.

    Jibrin, a resident of Ungwan Sarki in Kaduna, was convicted after pleading guilty to a one-count charge of constituting public nuisance.

    Magistrate Ibrahim Emmanuel passed the sentence after the convict begged the court to temper justice with mercy.

    Emmanuel said the court had indeed tempered justice with mercy because the convict was a first time offender.

    He advised the boy to be of good behavior, and enjoined his guardian, who was present in court, to advice him properly.

    The prosecutor, Inspector Leo Chidi, told the court that the convict was arrested at a black spot at Ungwan Sarki, Kaduna on Nov 5.

    According to Chidi, the convict and his friends had been caught smoking at the spot on many occasions and were warned to stay away from the spot.

    He said that a team of policemen attached to Gabasawa Police Station led by Inspector Abu Mohammed, arrested the convict on Nov. 5 when he failed to adhere to the instruction while his friends escaped.

    He added that the offence contravened the provisions of Section 199 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017.

  • Court okays suit seeking trial of Senator, Fani-Kayode, over Kanu’s disappearance

    A Federal High Court in Abuja has given permission for the commencement of a suit seeking to compel the State Security Service (SSS) and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to investigate and prosecute former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe and others over their alleged involvement in how Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) escaped from the country.

    Justice John Tsoho gave the permission yesterday after listening to applicant’s lawyer, Oghenovo Otemu, who moved a motion ex-parte for leave to commence an action for order of mandamus.

    The judge said he was convinced that the applicant, Isaiah Ayugu, could proceed to properly apply for the order sought.

    Justice Tsoho ordered Ayugu to file a motion on notice to that effect and serve the respondents before the next date of November 22 this year.

    Ayugu, in the ex-parte motion, said he was concerned about the turn of event and the damage the scandal about Kanu’s disappearance and the claim that the Nigerian sate was responsible have had on the nation’s image both at home and abroad.

    He listed the Director General of the SSS, the SSS, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the NPF as respondents in suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1254/18.

    Ayugu argued that by recent revelation that Kanu was in Israel, it was evident that Fani-Kayode, Abaribe, Kanu’s lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor and others, who had accused the Nigerian Army of being behind Kanu’s disappearance, knew about the IPOB leader’s escape from Nigeria.

    The plaintiff stated, in a supporting affidavit, “that the said Nnamdi Kanu, the so called self-acclaimed leader of IPOB, the group that has long been proscribed and designated a terrorist group, is alive and was seen in Israel from where he called a world press conference and made a live broadcast of his new and renewed agenda for his group.

    “In the broadcast, Kanu boasted that he will bring ‘hell to Nigeria.’ It is therefore clear that whilst Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, Femi Fani-Kayode, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, Tochukwu Uchendu, Emmanuel Shallow Ben, Emmanuel Kanu, Uchechi Kanu, leaders of Afaraukwu community in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State, the different civil liberty organisations and media practitioners and so many others too numerous to mention were making several dangerous claims that Nnamdi Kanu has been killed, abducted or being held by the Army, they were aware that he was actually out of the country, by their collective or respective assistance, from where he resurfaced in video clips of him praying in Israel and subsequent video broadcast.

    “Because Senator Abaribe took Nnamdi Kanu on bail, the case against Nnamdi Kanu has not seen the light of the day as Nnamdi Kanu has now jumped bail.”

    The plaintiff said he intended to apply for an order of mandamus mandating the respondents “to immediately investigate the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Nnamdi Kanu from Nigeria when, in fact, the Nigerian Army was accused of abducting, arresting, kidnapping, killing and assassinating him.

    “An order mandating the respondents to prosecute all persons suspected or indicted of involvement in aiding Nnamdi Kanu to evade justice.

    “An order mandating the respondents to investigate and prosecute Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, Femi Fani-Kayode, Tochukwu Uchendu, Emmanuel Shallow Ben, Emmanuel Kanu, Ifeanyi Ejiofor and all those who worked together to propagate and spread the inciting lies and falsehood that Nnamdi Kanu was abducted, arrested, kidnapped, detained, killed and assassinated by the Nigerian military, when indeed they were well aware of Nnamdi Kanu’s whereabouts, because they played roles in helping Nnamdi Kanu disappear from Nigeria.”

     

  • Court to hear consumption tax case Jan. 17

    A Lagos Federal High Court yesterday adjourned till January 17, hearing in a suit by the Registered Trustees of Hotel Owners and Managers Association, challenging the Hotel Occupancy and Restaurant Consumption Laws of Lagos State.

    The suit, marked FHC/L/CS/360/2018, has the Attorney-General of Lagos State and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) as defendants.

    Hearing was adjourned till January 17, following the absence of the judge, Justice Rilwan Aikawa, who is said to be currently sitting in Sokoto.

    On March 21, the court issued an interim order, restraining the defendant from enforcing the provisions of Hotel Occupancy and Restaurant Consumption (Fiscalisation) Regulations 2017.

    The law introduced an increase in consumption tax, in addition to Value Added Tax on every purchase or service rendered by hotels, restaurants, fast food outlets, bars and night clubs.

    Justice Aikawa said the injunction would subsist, pending the determination of the case.

    In the substantive suit, the plaintiff is urging the court to nullify the law.

    It prays court to restrain the state from enforcing paragraphs 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 11 of the law.

    The plaintiff is also asking the court to restrain the defendants and their agents from visiting members of the plaintiffs “between March 1 and March 10, 2018, or any other period before or thereafter,” pending the determination of the motion on notice.

    The plaintiffs contends that in 2009, the Lagos House of Assembly enacted the Hotel Occupancy and Restaurant Consumption Law, which seeks to impose tax on goods consumed in hotels, restaurants, event centres, or night clubs within Lagos.

    They argue that by Section 9 of the Law, the first defendant through the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) is empowered to make regulations for the collection and remittance of taxes, and for proper administration of the Law.

    According to the plaintiff, in exercise of its powers, the chairman of the LIRS has now made the Hotel Occupancy and Restaurant Consumption (Fiscalisation) Regulation 2017.

    They argue that the regulation is made to set out measures, which allow the first defendant through the LIRS to begin enforcement of the Law, on members of the plaintiff.

    The plaintiffs are, therefore, urging the court to grant their relief.