The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Court

  • Court remands man in prison over alleged murder

    Court remands man in prison over alleged murder

    An Akure Chief Magistrates’ Court has ordered the remand of one Idowu Ajewole , 38, in prison custody for allegedly killing one Monday Bassey over his lost chicken.

    The accused was said to have killed the 28-year-old Bassey at about 3pm at Adebowale street, Oke-Aro, Akure on December 12,2015.

    According to the prosecution, the accused person and the victim were alleged to be flat mates who had disagreement over a theft of the chicken before discovered its feathers in the deceased property when he was packing out of the apartment.

    The accused alleged to have reported the matter to the police, who came in vehicle to arrest the victim before he made the deceased to hit his head on the floor in the process of pushing the him inside the police vehicle and died as a result of an injury he sustained when he fell.

    The police prosecutor, ASP Pelumi Adejuwon further told the court that the action of the accused was responsible for the death of the victim.

    According to the prosecutor, the offence is contrary to and punishable under section 316 and 319 of the Criminal Code Cap 37 vol.1 Laws of Ondo state of Nigeria 2006.

    Adejuwon prayed the court for adjournment of the case to enable him send the duplicate of the case file to the Director of Public Prosecution for Legal Advise.

    He also urged the court to remand the accused person in prison custody, pending the out come of the advice from the office of the DPP.

    Counsel to the accused person, Barr. A.K .Adewusi, said that he was not opposing the adjournment due to the nature of the charge.

    The presiding magistrate, Mr. Sunday Adedapo,ordered the remand of the accused person in the Olokuta Prison Custody, pending the outcome of the legal advice.

    The case was later adjourned to January 28,2016.

  • Court quashes bank’s suit against oil firm, CEO

    A Federal High Court in Lagos has struck out a suit filed by Access Bank Plc against an oil marketer, Mr. Andy Isichei and his company, Cybernetics International Services Limited, over a piece of land on Ojora Street in Ikoyi.

    The bank had in June 2010 sued over a property at 7, Ojora Street, Ikoyi, Lagos. Lagos State Governor, Attorney-General, Nigerian Navy, Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Sa’ad Ola Ibrahim, Cybernetics International Services and Isichei were the first to sixth respondents.

    Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogibia held that Isichei and his company should not have been joined in the suit.

    Access Bank, in its statement of claim, stated that it advanced facilities to Cybernetics which it said was guaranteed by Isichei and that the the  property was used as collateral for the said facility.

    It averred that after efforts made to recover the facility failed, it entered into a term of settlement with the fifth and sixth defendants, accepting the property at No. 7 Ojora Street, Ikoyi, Lagos as full settlement of the indebtedness.

    The plaintiff averred that the sixth defendant (Isichei) handed over his Certificate of Occupancy on the property at No 7 Ojora Street, Ikoyi, Lagos registered as No. 60 at Page 60 in Volume 111 at the Federal Lands Registry, Ikoyi, Lagos State.

    The bank said it was surprised when on June 4, 2010, one Victor, a naval officer representing the Nigerian Navy visited the property and informed the private security guards positioned at the site of the building that the property has been re-allocated to Lagos State and that they should vacate it.

    The plaintiff averred that on Monday, June 8, 2010, the said Victor, visited the property in company of stern- looking policemen, took various photographs and threatened to assault the guards on duty.

    The  bank, in its averment, claimed that it was not aware of the steps taken by the first to the fourth defendants on its lawful property.

    However, Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia in her ruling, struck out the bank’s suit against the fifth and sixth defendants, Isichei and Cybernetics International Services Limited.

    The judge held that the two defendants, through their counsel, Mackings Nezianya,  have proved beyond reasonable they had nothing to do with the property again having used it to pay back the facilities  owed the bank.

     

     

  • $3.4b MTN fine: Fed Govt to await court pronouncement

    $3.4b MTN fine: Fed Govt to await court pronouncement

    The Minister of Communications Technology, Mr. Adebayo Shittu, yesterday said the Federal Government will await court pronouncement over the fine imposed by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) on MTN for subscriber identity module (SIM) card fraud.

    NCC had originally imposed N1.4trillion ($5.2billion) fine on the telco for keeping some 5.2million pre-registered SIMs on its network and refusing to deactivate them when it was directed to do so by the regulator. After a lot of appeal by the telco to the Federal Government, President Muhammadu Buhari reduced the fine to N780billion ($3.4billion) only for MTN to turn round and served the regulator court papers challenging its powers to impose the fine.

    Shittu who spoke with reporters during his visit to Omatek Ventures Plc along Kudirat Abiola Way, as part of his official visit to stakeholders in the information communications technology (ICT) sector, said President Buhari places high premium on the rule of law, adding that since all parties have subjected themselves to the supremacy of the constitution, the Federal Government will wait patiently for the court’s ruling.

    He said MTN, which has December 31 to pay the fine,  is the largest operator in the country, adding that nobody wants the downfall of the telco or any other company whether local or international in the country.

    Because the case is already in court, “it is difficult to comment on such matter. However, the ministry will await the determination of the court before any further action will be taken on the matter,” he said, adding that

    The minister said in as much as no particular telco or business organiation is being targeted by the government, he urged all business owners in the country to be mindful of the need for them to obey the laws of their host country.

    According to Shittu, a new blueprint for the industry will be unveiled in the third week of January next year, adding that the Communications Technology Ministry is not in any way trying to re-invent the wheel but will build on what is on ground and improve where necessary.

    “By January, the blueprint for ICT development in Nigeria will be unveiled. Whatever is on ground would form part of it. The change mantra is to improve on regulations in the industry”, he stressed.

    He commended Omatek CEO, Mrs Florence Seriki for her pioneering efforts in the ICT industry pledging to ensure that indigenous players are given the requisite encouragement and support.

  • Man in court over alleged heroin trafficking

    Man in court over alleged heroin trafficking

    A 35-year-old man, Aniecheta Okoli, on Tuesday appeared before a Federal High Court in Lagos, charged with heroin trafficking.

    The accused is facing a one-count charge preferred against him by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

    The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge, and his counsel, Mrs Lilian Omotunde, requested that he be granted bail.

    Justice Saliu Saidu, the trial Judge, in response, granted the accused bail in the sum of N10 million with two sureties in like sum.

    The judge ordered that one of the sureties must be a blood relation of the accused.

    He adjourned the case till Feb. 25, 2016, for substantive trial.

    The prosecutor, Mr Fingere Dinneys had told the court that the accused committed the offence on Oct. 5

    He said that the accused was arrested at the arrival hall of Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja.

    The prosecutor said that a large wrap of heroin, weighing 45 grammes, was recovered from the accused during the screening of passengers.

    He said that Okoli was consequently arrested and handed over to the NDLEA for prosecution.

    The prosecutor said that the offence contravened Section 11 (b) of the NDLEA Act, Cap N30, Laws of the Federation, 2004.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the offence of drug trafficking can attract as much as life imprisonment.

  • Court remands Yuguda, Dasuki, Bafarawa, others in Kuje prison

    Court remands Yuguda, Dasuki, Bafarawa, others in Kuje prison

    •To remain in prison until they meet bail conditions

    Former Minister of State for Finance Bashir Yuguda, ex-National Security Adviser (NSA) Mohammed  Sambo Dasuki, former Sokoto State Governor  Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa and two others are to remain in Kuje prison, Abuja, until they meet their  bail conditions.

    Justice Peter Affen of the High Court in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) gave the order yesterday in a ruling on their bail application.

    Also to be remanded are former Director of Finance and Administration in the Office of the NSA, Shuaibu Salisu and Bafarawa’s son, Sagir.

    Yuguda, Dasuki, Bafarawa, Salisu and Sagir were arraigned with a company, Dalhatu Investment Limited on December 15 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 22-count of criminal breach of trust, misappropriation and retention of proceeds of crime estimated at over 20 billion.

    Justice Affen, yesterday, admitted each of the five men to bail at N250 million with two sureties, who must pledge the same amount.

    The judge said one of the sureties must be a director in the Federal Civil Service; they must be resident in Abuja, and must have landed property in  Abuja worth N250 million.

    The judge added that title documents to the property and the defendants’ travel documents must be kept with the court.

    ‘’ I have carefully considered the applications and evidences tendered and found that extensive investigation was conducted in the matter.

    ‘’ Whatever is left was not substantial to deny the defendants bail, simply because the prosecution alleged that they may interfere with the investigation, if granted bail.

    “There is no evidence to prove that the defendants, if granted bail, will commit another offence.  I found it difficult to agree with the theory of probability, as canvassed by the prosecution, to deny the defendants bail,” the judge said.

    He noted that where the ill-heath of an accused person was in question, the court was enjoined to exercise its discretion in favour of the applicant, if relevant documents were presented before the court.

    The judge ordered that the defendants, who had been in the custody of the EFCC, be remanded in Kuje Prison pending uintil they meet the bail conditions.

    Their relatives and friends, including businessman Raymond Dokpesi, former Director of Publicity for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential campaign, Femi Fani-Kayode, who were in court, were making efforts to assist the defendants process their bail.

     

  • Court dismisses charges against Kads Farms CEO

    A Chief Magistrate’s Court sitting in Ogba, Lagos, has struck out a fraud charge filed against Chief Executive Officer of Kads Farms Limited, a livestock company, Ken Ogiamien, for want of diligent prosecution.

    Ogiamien was arraigned on charges of obtaining money by false pretence following a complaint by a policeman, Agha Tobias.

    The complainant claimed he bought a plot of land at Isheri North residential scheme in 2006 through Ogiamien, who is also a real estate agent.

    When he discovered that the land was waterlogged, he asked for a refund, but that Ogiamien refused to return the money.

    Ogiamien, who was already repaying the money, said the land was affected by flood water, which was not the case when he sold the land.

    Besides, he said he was making effort to raise money with which to fully refund Tobias when the complainant instigated his arrest.

    Ogiamien pleaded not guilty to the five-count charge of fraud when he was arraigned. He said he was ready to prove his innocence.

    After his arraignment, he was admitted to bail in the sum of N300,000 with two responsible sureties.

    The case was adjourned for trial and Ogiamien kept attending court. But, the complainant failed to turn up to give evidence for the prosecution.

    After three adjournments without the complainant showing up, Ogiamien’s lawyer Mr. A. Nwaka applied that the case be struck out.

    The lawyer said it was clear that the complainant and the prosecution had no case against his client.

    The Magistrate, Mrs A. T. Omoyele, granted the application and subsequently struck out the charge.

    “This charge is struck out for want of diligent prosecution and the defendant is discharged accordingly,” she held.

    Ogiamien insists that the allegation against him was false and designed to tarnish his reputation.

    Recalling the transaction that led to his arraignment, he said: “At the point of the transaction, there was no water on the land. But the land was later flooded with water from Ogun River.

    “Because of the water, Tobias said he was no longer interested in the land. He asked for a refund. We took the matter to the then Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Frank Mba.

    “Mba said I should refund Tobias the money. Based on the agreement, I started refunding the N2million. I had paid him N1million in cash. It was collected on his behalf by PPRO, and he was remitting the money to Tobias.

    “Maybe because he was a police officer, he took the matter to the State Police Command having received N1million of his money. The command then decided to take the matter to court.

    “He never appeared in court for one day. The whole thing was just to humiliate and embarrass me. I have all the evidence of the payments I made to him because the  PPRO always acknowledged the money I brought.

    “The PPRO even told me he was ready to come and testify in court that I was already paying back the money. But Tobias never came to court,” Ogiamien said.

  • Akwa Ibom assembly elects new speaker

    The Akwa Ibom House of Assembly on Monday elected Mr Onofiok Luke as its new Speaker.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Luke, who represents Nsit Ubium constituency emerged as Speaker following the nullification of the election of the former Speaker, Aniekan Uko.

    The Appeal Court Tribunal sitting in Abuja had last week nullified the election of the former speaker.

    Luke was nominated by Nse Essien, member representing Onna and seconded by Mark Esset, member representing Nsit Atai.

    The Clerk of the House, Mrs Mandu Umoren, administered the oath of office on the new speaker.

    In his acceptance speech, Luke promised to work with the executive to bring development to the state and ensure that the dividends of democracy reached the grassroots.

    The new speaker said he would operate an open door policy and continue from where the former speaker stopped as the House adjourned sittings to Tuesday, Dec. 22

  • Court clears seven of beating up policemen

    Court clears seven of beating up policemen

    A Lagos State Magistrate’s Court in Igbosere Monday discharged seven men of the allegation that they attacked police officers on duty with dangerous weapons, due to the absence of the Investigating Police Officer (IPO).

    The accused are: Bada Saheed, 29, Damilola Olayiwola, 23, Musibau Lateef, 18, Ajayi Tobi, 21, Tunde Lekan, 20, Seun Adeoti, 18, and Seun Tayo, 18.

    The men, whose addresses were not given, were standing trial on a one-count charge bordering on unlawful attack on policemen.

    During their arraignment on December 10, the prosecutor, Inspector Ingobo Emby, told the court that the defendants committed the offence on Dec. 8, at 11:30 p.m, at Obalende Motor Park, Lagos.

    He alleged that the defendants attacked policemen who were on duty with dangerous weapons.

    The offence, he said, contravened Section 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

    The accused had pleaded not guilty to the charge.

    Monday, the magistrate, Mrs. F. F. George, struck out the case due to the absence of the complainants and the IPO.

    Cases should not be dumped in the courts, she said, if the complainant had no interest in prosecuting.

  • Court to hear Ishaku’s appeal tomorrow

    Court to hear Ishaku’s appeal tomorrow

    The Court of Appeal will tomorrow hear the appeal filed by Governor Darius Ishaku of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) asking the appellate court to set aside the Taraba Tribunal ruling which sacked him and handed the governorship to the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Aisha Alhassan.

    The tribunal sacked Ishaku on the ground that the PDP did not hold a proper primary that threw him up as the candidate.

    The Court of Appeal in Yola, Adamawa State, usually entertains appeals from Taraba. But like the tribunal which sat throughout in Abuja on security concerns, the Court of Appeal is treating Ishaku’s appeal in Abuja.

    In Jalingo –Taraba’s capital, there was a calm anxiety over the case yesterday. No discussions were without a mention of the case.

    The legal counsel to Ishaku and Alhassan will tomorrow adopt their written addresses or briefs of arguments, from where the court will fix a date for ruling.

    The Court of Appeal has received four notices of appeal; three filed by the governor’s legal team, headed by Joseph Dauda, and a cross-appeal filed by Alhassan’s counsel Mahmud Magaji, (SAN).

    The tribunal headed by Justice Musa Danladi Abubakar on November 7, proclaimed Alhassan, now Minister for Women Affairs, who scored the second highest votes, as the rightful winner of the election.

    The tribunal upheld Alhassan’s argument that Ishaku was not qualified to contest the April 11, 2015 governorship election because the primary held by his party fell short of the conditions stipulated by Sections 85 and 87 of the Electoral Act (2A) 2010.

    It faulted the shifting of the party’s primary to Abuja and ruled that the governor was not validly nominated and sponsored by his party.

    But Ishaku cried foul, that the tribunal left the crux of the litigation and delved into a pre-election matter that was not within its purview.

    He challenged that the ruling APC was using the federal might and manipulating the judiciary to atrociously execute a coup to take over Taraba State through the back door.

    Governor Ishaku told The Nation that he saw “contradictions and great conflict of irony” in the ruling when the tribunal challenged the validity of holding the PDP primary in Abuja but also sat in the same Abuja to pass judgment.

    “A sad aspect of the tribunal ruling, which is like an accidental discharge, is that the APC supporters rejoiced the victory a day before judgment was passed the following day, and it went viral on the social media several hours before the ruling was concluded.”

  • Alleged 13.5b fraud: Court grants Dasuki, others N250m bail each

    Alleged 13.5b fraud: Court grants Dasuki, others N250m bail each

    A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja has granted bail to former National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki, and two others.

    The others are ex-Director of Finance and Administration in the office of the NSA, Shuaibu Salisu, and former Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Aminu Baba-Kusa.

    They were arraigned on December 14 before the court on a 19-count charge bordering on criminal diversion of funds preferred against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    Yesterday, Justice Hussein  Baba-Yusuf, in a ruling on their bail application, admitted each of them to bail at N250million and one surety at the same amount.

    The judge said the sureties must show evidence of owning a property in the Federal Capital Territory worth N250m

    The judge further directed that the surety must be a civil servant not below the rank of a Director in the Federal Civil Service. The surety must also swear to an affidavit of means while the accused persons are expected to deposit their travel documents with the court in addition to informing the court whenever they need to travel outside the federal capital territory.

    The judge adjourned to January 21 next year for commencement of trial.

    Dasuki, Salisu, Baba-Kusa  and two companies – Acacia Holdings Limited and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited were charged with conspiracy and criminal breach of trust under the Penal Code Act and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establsihment) Act.

    Dasuki and Salisu were accused of distributing funds held in the account of the NSA in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to politicians, media practitioners and businessmen purportedly for political campaigns and organizing of prayer sessions.

    The duo was, in counts 5, 6, 7 and 8, accused of paying N2.2billion to Baba-Kusa  through  the bank accounts of Acacia Holdings Limited and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited in Zenith Bank Plc.

    Dasuki, Salisu and former Special Assistant, Domestic Affairs to the President, Hon. Warimpamowei Dudafa (now at large), were, in count 1, said to have received N10billion, which they converted to $47m and 5.6m Euro, and claimed to have distributed to  the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential primary election delegates  around November 27, 2014.

    Dasuki and Salihu were, in count 2, said to have, between January 22 and March 19, 2015 “remitted N2,120,000,000 into the account of Daar Investment and Holding Company Limited   controlled by one Dr. Raymond Dokpesi for the funding of the media activities for the 2015 presidential election campaign for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    They were, in counts 15, 16 and 17, accused of paying N670m “to the bank account of General Hydrocarbons Limited with Guaranty Trust Bank Plc controlled by one Obaigbena Nduka purporting the said sum to be payment for ‘energy consulting’; “N250m to the bank account of Tony Anenih with First Bank of Nigeria Plc”; and “N345m to the bank account of Starbriid Limited with Stanbic IBTC Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank controlled by one Emmanuel Lawani on behalf of Senator Iyorcha Ayu for the construction of shopping mall at Jabi, Abuja.

    Baba-Kusa, Acacia Holdings and Reliance Referral Hospital were charged in counts 9, 10, 11 and 12 for receiving funds from Dasuki and Salihu which they knew to be proceeds of criminal conduct.

    The accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to them.