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Tag: Igbosere High Court

  • Togolese cook bags life imprisonment for killing Credit Switch boss

    An Igbosere High Court in Lagos on Tuesday, sentenced a Togolese cook, Sunday Adefonou Anani, to life imprisonment for the last October 31 murder of the Chief Executive Officer of Credit Switch Ltd, Ope Bademosi.

    Justice Mobolanle Okikiolu-Ighile convicted Anani following his plea of guilty to a one-count charge of voluntary manslaughter.

    Anani confessed to the court that he stabbed Chief Bademosi to death in his Ikoyi, Lagos home, while trying to rob him.

    He also confirmed that he was the person caught on Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) fleeing the scene of the crime, after the murder.

    Anani was originally arraigned on a two-count charge of murder and armed robbery which could have fetched him a sentence of death by hanging on conviction, but he struck a plea bargain deal with the Lagos State Government soon after the trial commenced.

    The agreement, which followed consultation with his counsel, the Director of the Office of the Public Defender (OPD), Mrs Aderenra Adeyemi, allowed him to admit the lesser charge of manslaughter.

    Before sentencing Anani, Justice Okikiolu-Ighile asked Mrs Adeyemi if the cook, who spoke only French, had an allocutus .

    Allocutus is a plea made in criminal trials in order to mitigate the sentence or punishment on a convicted person.

    Adeyemi said: ” The defendant is a young man and he is remorseful about what he has done. He is a first time offender; there is no evidence that he committed any crime before this. Our humble application is to urge your lordship to grant a sentence of years certain. However, if my lordship is mindful of upholding what we have agreed in the plea bargain, we will accept the sentence therein.”

    But Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Titilayo Shitta-Bey opposed the prayer.

    Shitta-Bey said: “We urge this court to grant the maximum sentence for the offence of voluntary manslaughter act as charged.”

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    She noted that there were some “special,” “aggravating circumstances” surrounding the case, such as breach of trust

    Shitta-Bey said: “The defendant was employed into the home of his boss, entrusted with a high level of responsibilities as a cook.

    “Barely three days after resumption of duty, the defendant cut short the life of a man that gave him a new lease of life, depriving him the privilege of enjoying life with his wife and children, which the deceased was entitled to.

    “Judicial notice must be taken of the fact that this act of violence by domestic employees against their employers is becoming rampant.

    “The sentence must reflect that this conduct is unacceptable to our society. We must send the message to others of like minds like the defendant.”

    Following their submissions, Justice Okikiolu-Ighile passed judgement on Anani.

    The judge said: “It is annoying that a young man like this would involve himself in this kind of crime. What did he hope to achieve in life involving himself in this kind of crime, I ask? It is very painful that a young boy whom the family of Bademosi welcomed in their home as a cook ended up causing so much havoc and endless pain.

    “It is even more painful that the defendant had no motive of working but came into the house with a criminal intention to steal, to kill and to destroy.

    “The defendant admitted ‘I killed him.’ This was an innocent and unsuspecting family.”

    Upholding the plea bargain and sentence agreement, the judge held: “Sunday Adefonou Anani, defendant of this court, is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment. The term of imprisonment shall commence from today (yesterday) June 25.”

    During the trial, the Lagos State Government told the court that Anani, last October 31 at 3B, Onikoyi Lane, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, unlawfully killed Bademosi by stabbing him with a knife on his chest.

    Shitta-Bey said the Police arrested Anani in Ondo State, he was brought back to Lagos and admitted to stabbing the deceased (Bademosi) with a kitchen knife.

    “On further investigation, it was discovered that the defendant attempted to rob the deceased in his bedroom, the deceased resisted the defendant, which led to the defendant stabbing the deceased.

    “Investigation also revealed through CCTV footage that the defendant escaped from the premises and ran towards the end of the street.”

    She added that the defendant was charged with the offences of Murder and Armed Robbery contrary to Sections 223 and 297 (2) (b) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 at an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court which remanded him on November 12, 2018.

    On April 10, 2019, he was subsequently charged for the Bademosi’s murder at the High Court.

    He pleaded not guilty.

    Shitta-Bey added: “By a letter dated May 20, the defendant through his counsel expressed his willingness to voluntarily plead guilty to a lesser offence, which was thereafter accepted.

    She also called two witnesses, including the deceased’s wife Ebunola Bademosi, who testified as to how she found her husband in a pool of blood.

    Mrs Bademosi said: “I entered the apartment. By the time I got in, I looked up and saw blood flowing out of my husband’s bedroom. I couldn’t enter my husband’s bedroom because the door was only partially open, but I could see his body lying on the floor. I wasn’t sure of what could be happening inside the bedroom, so, I ran out of the building and started screaming, calling neighbours to help. A couple of people came. I told them to go up and check that something was happening, that I didn’t know what exactly it was”.

  • UPDATED: Béninoise househelp to hang for murdering employer’s 78-year-old mum

    An Igbosere High Court in Lagos yesterday sentenced a Béninoise househelp, Christian Hounvenon Yavine, to death by hanging for the July 1, 2014 murder of a 78-year-old woman, Mariam Atinuke Abiola.

    Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye found Yavine, 23, guilty of nearly severing Abiola’s neck with a knife while she slept in her daughter’s Ipaja, Lagos home.

    Abiola was the mother of Ajoke Ashiwonyi Abiola, Yavine’s employer, who was away to a church vigil.

    The judge convicted Yavine following a three-year trial.

    The convict, on April 15, 2016, pleaded not guilty to a one-count charge of murder preferred against him by the Lagos State Government.

    Prosecuting counsel Akin George said the incident happened on July 1, 2014, at Block 74, Flat 4, Ipaja Low Cost Housing Estate, Pen Cinema, Lagos.

    He said the offence was punishable under Section 221 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

    In her judgment, Justice Ipaye dismissed Yavine’s defences, including a claim that he was 14 years’ old at the time of the offence, having been born in the year 2000.

    The judge observed that there was ample corroborative evidence that falsified his claim.

    She noted that the prosecution’s evidence showed that at the time of the murder, Yavine was seeking admission to a higher institution, and would have registered to sit an entrance exam, but for financial challenges.

    The judge noted further that it was unlikely that the defendant was seeking university admission at 14 years old.

    The judge also observed that a birth certificate obtained by the Lagos State Government from Yavine’s alleged birth hospital in Benin Republic showed that he was born in 1996.

    The court also considered Yavine’s claim that the confessional statement tendered by the government against him, was contrived by the police.

    The convict had claimed that being a French speaker, he could not have made the statement, which was written in English, a language he did not understand.

    But the judge observed that there was corroborative evidence to the contrary.

    Justice Ipaye noted that Yavine lived with the deceased for two weeks before the incident, during which he also went to the market with her.

    She wondered what language he spoke with her, if he truly did not understand any English.

    Furthermore, the judge held that the deceased was also caught by the Doctrine of last seen.

    Justice Ipaye also noted that Yavine was the only one with Abiola while she was alive on the night of June 30 and in the early hours of July 1, when she was found dead.

    READ ALSO: Breaking: Béninoise man sentenced to death for killing employer’s mother

    The judge noted that the doctrine requires that a person charged with murder who was the last person seen with the deceased, should offer some explanation as to how the deceased met his death.

    During the trial, Yavine, who was led in evidence by his counsel Demola Dere, claimed that the police wrongfully charged him for the offence, because he failed to pay a N200,000 bribe bribe.

    Yavine testified through an interpreter that on June 30, 2014, his employer locked him and the deceased in separate rooms before leaving for a vigil.

    According to him, there was also one Mr Gbenga, who stayed in the house for about a week.

    He said: “That day, my boss said she was going for vigil and that she was going to leave her mother at home with me. Before she left, she locked me inside a room and also locked her mother, who was sleeping, inside the palour. She said when she returned, she would open the door.”

    The defendant explained that when his boss arrived the next morning, she began banging on the door of the room where he was, asking him what happened to her mother.

    “My boss said that thieves came to attack the house and killed her mother. That morning there was one man that came into the house; I don’t know his name, I also didn’t know who called the police that same morning. Gbenga, who was with us, I couldn’t find him”.

    When asked what the deceased was doing in the sitting room, the defendant said she slept in the palour because she and her daughter usually quarrelled if they slept in her daughter’s room.

  • Again ill health stalls Rickey Tarfa’s alleged bribery charge

    The trial of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria,  charged with perversion of the course of justice before an Igbosere High Court in Lagos, was on Wednesday stalled for the third time due to the ill health of the defendant.

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) charged Tarfa with 26 counts bordering on offering monetary gratification to two judges of the Federal High Court – Justices Hyeladzira Nganjiwa and Mohammed Yunusa.

    At the resumed hearing,Defence Counsel, Mr Jelili Owonikoko, SAN, told the court that the defendant was in a car within the court premises but could not enter the court room due to ill health.

    “Since the last adjourned date, today is the only day the defendant was able to leave his house,” Owonikoko said.

    He reminded the court that on the last adjourned date of March 19, he filed a medical recommendation notifying the court about the medical leave given to the defendant for a period of three months to enable him recuperate.

    He said that the defendant was downstairs in a vehicle inside the court premises.

    But the prosecutor, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, observed that for the defendant to make the trip to court, there was a presumption that he could attend his trial.

    He lamented that the situation was foisting a delay on the proceedings.

    “If the defendant can manage himself to get here, I don’t think it will be out of place for him to come into the courtroom.

    “I want to plead with the defence that they should do the needful for him to appear in court. His movement from the car to this place should not be impossible,” Oyedepo said.

    Following the arguments, Justice Adedayo Akintoye ordered the court registrar, Oyedepo and Owonikoko to go and verify that Tarfa was actually outside.

    They did and upon their return, Oyedepo confirmed that they found Tarfa seated in the back seat of a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV).

    He said: “One part of his leg is about swollen, but he was seated. If it is not possible for him to come up, if we can get another venue that is downstairs, it might be possible to continue the trial.”

    But Owonikoko said that court access was not the primary problem.

    “The defendant can not sit for too long, he has to be lying down for his wound to heal properly,” the Silk said.

    Ruling, Justice Adedayo said: “We will look for a court that is downstairs and check if they can accommodate us.

    “We will take two weeks (a two-week adjournment) during which we will look for a venue. If we find, the registrar will communicate the venue and time to the parties and we will come for trial.”

    She adjourned further proceedings until May 31.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that on March 11, the case did not go on because the judge went for an official duty.

    NAN also reports that on Jan. 21, the trial did not go on because of the absence of the defendant.

    Tarfa’s counsel, Owonikoko, SAN, had told the court that his client traveled outside the country for medical treatment.

    However, on March 19, the defendant was in the court premises but could not enter the courtroom due to the severity of his ill health.

    NAN reports that EFCC in a charge, claimed that between June 27, 2012 and Jan. 8, 2016, Tarfa paid a total of N5.3 million in several tranches into Justice Nganjiwa’s account.

    He was also accused of paying into Justice Yunusa’s account, a total of N800,000 in three tranches between Feb. 9 and Nov. 30, 2015.

    The SAN was equally accused of age falsification.

    Upon his arraignment on March 9, 2016 and subsequent re-arraignment on Nov. 16, 2016, Tarfa pleaded not guilty to the charge and was granted bail on self recognizance.

    The EFCC had since closed its case, adding that Tarfa, entered his defence after the court dismissed the no-case submission he filed.

    NAN also reports that Tarfa’s first witness, Deputy Chief Registrar (DCR)of the Federal High Court in Lagos, Mr Bello Okandeji, was yet to finish his cross-examination. (NAN)

  • Court frees three robbery suspects detained for seven years

    An Igbosere High Court in Lagos Monday struck out a robbery charge filed by the Lagos State Government against three men: Abubakar Ali, Abdullahi Ibrahim and Abdulraman Abdullahi.

    Justice Modupe Nicol-Clay freed the men following the government’s failure to diligently prosecute the case.

    Ali, 29, a labourer; Ibrahim, 32, unemployed; and Abdullahi, 25, commercial motorcyclist, were in 2012 brought by the police before Mrs M. O. Ope-Agbe of an Igbosere Chief Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, soon after their arrest for alleged robbery.

    Following an application by the police, Chief Magistrates Ope-Agbe remanded the trio in prison custody pending advice from the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP).

    The DPP recommended their trial and the case was transferred to the high court where the defendants were arraigned before Justice Nicol-Clay in July 2013.

    They were accused of a two-count charge of conspiracy to commit armed robbery and robbery, both of which contravened Sections 295 (2) (b) and 297 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

    Read Also: Court dissolves 12-year-old marriage over threat to life

    The judge heard that the defendants, at about 4:50pm on or about September 6, 2012, at 404 Close, Banana Island, Ikoyi Lagos, robbed Mr Adeshina Oyeniran of four Handsets, jewellery and recharge cards of various networks all valued at N220,000.

    Each defendant pleaded not guilty.

    The prosecution informed the court of its intention to call six witnesses, Olowookere Stephen, Adeshina Oyeniran, Temidayo Oyeniran, Yetunde Arikawe, Corporal Eje Agada and Sergeant Bashiru Adeleye.

    But following the commencement of trial and several adjournments, no witness was available.

    At the commencement of proceedings Monday, defence counsel Mrs. Grace Adenubi and Busola Byron of the Legal Aid Counsel questioned the prosecution’s willingness to go on with the trial.

    Adenubi said: “My Lord, this is a 2013 case. For six years, the prosecution has not been able to present witnesses. There has been no witness since arraignment. We apply that the case against the defendants be struck out.

    “Our application is anchored on Section 36 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which guarantees every defendant the right to fair hearing within a reasonable time. This case is long overdue for striking out, in the interest of justice.”

    Upholding her prayer, Justice Nicol-Clay struck out the case.

  • Ill-health stalls Ricky Tarfa’s trial

    The trial of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Rickey Tarfa, for alleged perversion of the course of justice before an Igbosere High Court  was yesterday stalled due to his ill health.

    Tarfa is standing trial on a 26-count charge bordering on offering monetary gratification to two judges of the Federal High Court, Justices Hyeladzira Nganjiwa and Mohammed Yunusa before Justify Adedayo Akintoye.

    During resumed proceeding yesterday, Tarfa’s counsel,  Mr Jelili Owonikoko (SAN), told the court that the defendant was in the court’s premises but could not enter the court room due to the severity of his illness.

    Owonikoko told the court that they had filed a medical recommendation notifying the court for medical leave to given to the defendant for a period of three months to enable him recuperate.

    He said that the defendant was in a vehicle inside the court premises.

    At this stage, the prosecuting counsel of the Economic and Financial Crimes Comission (EFCC), Mr Usman Buhari and the court’s registrar all went out to the vehicle to see the defendant.

    When they came backi, the EFCC prosecutor, Buhari who stood in for Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, told the court that they saw the defendant in the vehicle.

    He also said that the medical report was served on them.

    Buhari said he had no objection for the request of the defendant for time to recuperate.

    The trial judge, Justice Akintoye, advised that the defendant must not travel outside the country without court’s knowledge.

    She adjourned the case until May 8 and 9 for continuation of trial.

    It would be recalled that on the last adjourned date, March 11, the case did not go on because the judge went for an official duty.

    Tarfa’s trial was also stalled on January 21due to his absence in court.

    Tarfa’s counsel, Owonikoko (SAN), had told the court that his client traveled outside the country for medical treatment.

    He said the condition of his client was so bad that he had made to travel for surgical operations.

    The EFCC counsel confirmed to the court that he received the medical report and a letter from the defendant requesting for vacation of trial date to further date.

    He, however, said that the defendant should have come to court to apply for leave to travel before embarking on such a trip.

    EFCC had in the charge claimed that between June 27, 2012 and January 8, 2016, Tarfa paid a total of N5.3 million in several tranches into Justice Nganjiwa’s account.

    He was also accused of paying into Justice Yunusa’s account, a total of N800,000 in three tranches between Feb. 9 and November 30, 2015.

    The SAN was equally accused of age falsification.

    Upon his arraignment on March 9, 2016 and subsequent re-arraignment on November 16, 2016, Tarfa pleaded not guilty to the charge and was granted bail on self-recognizance.

    The EFCC had since closed its case.

    Tarfa, also opened his defence after the court dismissed the no-case submission he filed.

    Tarfa’s first witness, Deputy Chief Registrar (DCR)of the Federal High Court in Lagos, Mr Bello Okandeji, was yet to finish his cross-examination.

  • Electrician denies killing wife with a pestle

    A 49-year-old electrician, Ismaila Salau, on Tuesday in an Igbosere High Court denied killing his wife, Silifat Yakubu with a pestle.

    Salau was arraigned in 2015, on a count charge of murder preferred against him by the Lagos State Government.

    At the resumed hearing, the witness who was led in evidence by his counsel, Mr A. A Babalola, said that on Oct. 3, 2014, he was held up in traffic after running errands for a friend.

    The witness told the court that on the fateful day, he left home around 6 a.m and returned back the following day at 4 a.m. because his friend sent him on an errand.

    ” I was held up in traffic until the early hours of the following morning. My car also fell into a ditch due to flood’, he told the court.

    He said that he called his wife who was visiting her parents during the Salah festivities .

    Salau said that when he got home, he did not see his wife and her phone was switched off.

    The witness said he called his older daughter who told him that the deceased left her mother’s house since 8 p.m.

    Salau narrated how he went for a village meeting the following day and heard about a pregnant woman who drowned in the stream.

    He said, “I then told the Baale that my wife was missing so he asked me and my wife’s older brother to go to the Badagry general hospital where the corpse was deposited to check if it was my wife.

    “When I saw the corpse, I knew that was my wife”.

    During cross-examined by the Lagos State prosecutor, Jubril Kareem, the accused admitted that he did not report to the police about his missing wife.

    He however denied the statement he allegedly made to the police during police investigation.

    After listening to the evidence, Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye, adjourned the case until April 9, for continuation of trial.

    Earlier, the prosecutor Kareem had told the court that the defendant committed the alleged offence on Oct. 3, 2014, 11 p.m, at No.18, Igbele village, in Araromi community of Badagry, Lagos State.

    He said the defendant allegedly murdered his wife, Silifat Yakubu, by hitting her head with a pestle and dumping her corpse in a nearby stream.

    Kareem said the offence contravened the provisions of Section 221 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.

    However the defendant pleaded not guilty and was remanded in custody.

  • Man to die for matcheting neighbour

    An Igbosere High Court in Lagos on Tuesday sentenced a man, Ibrahim Tijani, to death by hanging, for macheting his neighbour to death following a quarrel about the fumes from his generating set.

    Justice Adedayo Akintoye sentenced Tijani to death after finding him guilty of a one-count of murder.

    The judge noted that the evidence provided by the prosecution, including the witnesses’ testimony, was compelling and credible.

    Justice Akintoye held: “The court is satisfied that the defendant is as guilty as charged.

    “The defendant is to be hung by the neck until dead and may God have mercy on your soul.”

    Tijani was arraigned on January 21, 2016, by the Lagos State Government.

    Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Adeniji Kazeem SAN said the defendant, who along with the deceased lived in an uncompleted building at Okun in Ajah area of Lagos, committed the offence at about 2:20am on February 8, 2015.

    He said Tijani, 34, slashed Bashorun Okanla‎won, 57, in the left hand, leg and waist with a machete in the presence of Okanlawon’s son Adeola.

    He left Okanlawon and went after Adeola, 16, who had been begging him to stop. The teenager fled and hid behind a cashew tree.

    When Tijani returned, Okanlawon had bled to death.

    According to the Attorney-General, the offence was punishable under Section 221 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.

    Tijani pleaded not guilty.

    During the trial, Adeola told Justice Akintoye that the incident followed a fight between his father and the defendant over the fumes from Tijani’s generator.

    The 16-year-old testified while Kazeem led him in evidence.

    According to him, Tijani attacked his father with a machete he picked from a food vendor.

    During cross-examination by the defendant’s counsel Onome Akpeneye, Adeola, the first prosecution witness, explained that the incident was preceded by a fight.

    He said that night, he and his father were bothered by the fumes which was wafting into their room from Tijani’s small generator.

    Read Also: Man goes beserk, kills wife, children, 4 others

    The deceased complained to the defendant about the smoke and asked him to reposition the generator but the defendant refused, following which the deceased turned the generator funnel away from his room.

    A fight, which broke out, was settled by neighbours and, afterwards, an Islamic cleric reconciled the duo.

    According to Adeola, it was on their way from the cleric’s home that Tijani attacked the deceased.

    The Investigating Police Officer (IPO) in the case, Sergeant David Abu, also testified as the second prosecution witness.

    He stated that at about 2:13am on the day of the incident, a bleeding Tijani came to report a case of assault at the Agbongon Police Division.

    But, about 10 minutes later, the neighbours brought the lifeless body of the deceased to the station in a tricycle.

    He said “In my investigation review, on February 8, 2015, the defendant and the deceased were living in the same uncompleted building at Okun Ajah. The deceased complained to the defendant to adjust his generator as the smoke from the generator was entering his room.”

    Abu said the deceased complained to the cleric, who owns a block industry, following which the cleric sent for the defendant and reconciled the duo.

    According to him, on their way home from the Alfa’s place, the defendant picked a machete from a food vendor’s place and started chasing the deceased who tripped on a block and fell.

    The defendant, he added, started cutting the deceased.

    “He cut his left hand, leg and waist. When the son of the deceased, one Adeola Okanlawan, started shouting ‘don’t kill my father,’ he started chasing the boy who hid behind a cashew tree. When the defendant saw that the deceased could no longer move, he picked up a bottle and stabbed himself on the left arm and ran to the Police station to make a report of assualt,” Abu said.”

  • N4.5m ‘fraud’: Lawyer ‘jumps bail’, changes name

    … remanded in prison

    An Igbosere High Court in Lagos on Monday remanded a lawyer, Chidi Uzoije Amadi, who allegedly jumped bail and changed his identity, after his arraignment in 2016 for obtaining N4.5 million by false pretense.

    Justice Modupe Nicol-Clay made the order following Amadi’s re-arrest and re-arraignment on a two-count charge of stealing and obtaining money by false pretense.

    The fresh charge, marked LD/5648c/2017, was preferred against him by the Lagos State Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

    It alleged that Amadi obtained the sum from a businessman, Augustine Chigbo Okoro in 2013, on the pretext that he could secure him 20 plots of land at the Ibeju Lekki area of Lagos State, for N200,000 per plot.

    He allegedly failed to do so, did not return the money and fled after being granted bail.

    Prosecution counsel, Mrs K.O. Sarumi, said the alleged offences contravened sections 285 and 312 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

    Amadi pleaded not guilty.

    The defendant’s wife, Ngozi Chidi-Obinwanne of Gamaliels’ Advocacy, applied for a date to hear his bail application.

    But Sarumi opposed her. She notified the judge that the defendant was a flight risk and prayed the court to remand him for trial.

    The prosecutor alleged that the defendant absconded soon after he was granted bail in the same matter by an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court in 2016.

    She told Justice Nicol-Clay  that Amadi moved from Amuwo-Odofin and also relocated his law firm, Chidi Uzoije Amadi & Co. to an unknown location.

    Read Also: Suspected fake lawyer remanded for ‘false pretence, perjury’

    The court heard that the state filed a case against him at the high court but Amadi failed to appear, following which a Bench Warrant was issued last April, and the police began a man-hunt for him.

    According to the prosecutor, Amadi was neither seen nor heard from until November 13, when, following a tip-off, he was re-arrested at an Epe High Court.

    The court heard that Amadi allegedly moved to Ajah area of Lagos and now practices law under a new name: Chidi Uzoije Obinwanne.

    The prosecutor said investigation was ongoing to determine the defendant’s current identity, residence and place of work.

    Justice Nicol-Clay remanded Amadi in Kirikiri Maximum Security Prison, Ikoyi and adjourned till November 28 to hear his bail application.

    On February 5, 2016, the Police Federal Criminal Intelligence Investigation Department (FCIID) Alagbon, Lagos, arraigned Amadi at an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court on a one-count charge bordering on fraud.

    Prosecution counsel, Mr Ezekiel Upah, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said sometime in 2013, Amadi promised a businessman, Augustine Chigbo Okoro, that he could secure him 20 plots of land at the Ibeju Lekki area of Lagos State, for N200,000 per plot.

    Upah told the court in charge No. I/0716, that Amadi, “with intent to defraud, obtained N4.5m from Okoro by falsely representing yourself to him that you were capable of providing 20 plots of land for him at the cost of the said amount of N4.5m only in Ibeju Lekki area of Lagos.”

    He said Amadi failed to provide the land but did not return Okoro’s money.

    The prosecutor said the offence contravened Section 312(3) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.

    Amadi pleaded not guilty.

    Senior Magistrate H. O. Amos granted the defendant bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in the like sum.

    He remanded the defendant in prison custody pending the fulfilment of the bail terms and adjourned till March 3, 2015 for mention.

    At that time Amadi, described himself on his Facebook page as a graduate of the Faculty of Law, Abia State University, Uturu, resident at Amuwo Odofin in Lagos.

    But the defendant now goes by the name Chidi Uzoije Obinwanne on his Facebook page.

  • Industrialists seek quick resolution of relocation case

    Industrialists at the Yaba Industrial Estate, Sabo have called for the quick resolution of their relocation case, saying that will help them focus on contributing their quota to the economic development of the country.

    They said prolonging the case will be of no benefit to any party as it will go against the increase in local production capacity being championed by the federal government.

    The tenants have been at loggerheads with the Lagos state government through its investment arm, Ibile holdings, that wants to move them to another location from Yaba to Ikorodu which they said negates the previous agreement they had with the state government.

    They are presently at the Igbosere High Court where they filed an interlocutory injunction restraining Ibile holidings and the state government from forcefully ejecting them before the matter must have been heard.

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    Mrs Alaba Bamgbose, one of the industrialists in the estate said they want speedy resolution of the matter as it has brought an air of uncertainty to the area.

    She added that the obvious delay being brought to the case by the counsel of Ibile holdings in challenging the jurisdiction of the court to hear the matter should be looked into for their benefits.

    She said they are hoping the court grant their wish in stopping the authorities from throwing them out of the estate where they haven’t defaulted in payment to the government since the establishment of the place as the first industrial estate in Nigeria.

  • Court adjourns suit against Lagos PDP exco till September 6

    An Igbosere High Court Thursday adjourned till September 12 to hear an application by nine People’s Democratic Party (PDP) members seeking to nullify the party’s 2017 congresses.

    Justice Idowu Alakija fixed the date to enable both parties file pending applications.

    The plaintiffs are: Ishola Shodiya, Ismaila Abiola, Kehinde Adela Aluminani, Kazeem Adeyemi, Awoyemi Abayomi, Adegboyega Adegbesan, Olalekan Bello, Florence Akojenu and Wasiu Aderounmu.

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    Joined as respondents in the suit are PDP National Chairman Uche Secondus, PDP National Vice Chairman South-West, Dr. Eddy Olafeso, Mr Moshood Salvador, and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    The plaintiffs are seeking a declaration that the party’s last October 21 local government congresses in Lagos State did not conform with the PDP’s constitution.

    They are also asking the court to declare that Salvador and other executive members were not validly elected at the congress, among others.

    At the resumed hearing of the matter Thursday, respondents’ counsel Spurgeon Ataene said he had filed a preliminary objection and counter-affidavit to the claimants’ suit, and urged the court to strike out the previous one.

    Claimants’ counsel, O. J. Osinowo, confirmed that he had been served and prayed for time to respond.

    He said since the PDP’s primary is scheduled for next week, the court ought to order both parties to maintain the status quo.

    But Ataene opposed him. He prayed the court to discountenance Osinowo’s application for a status quo order.

    Ataene made an application for an order of accelerated hearing, “so that none of the parties that will do what will overreach the decision of the court.”

    He added that “Should the court be mindful of granting the claimants’ request, there should be no new primary of the party next week, as there is an existing party exco, which came on board by virtue of the Congresses held in October 2017.”