The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Justice Saliu Saidu

  • NDLEA arraigns suspected drug syndicate

     The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) yesterday arraigned a drug syndicate at the Federal High Court in Lagos.

    The suspects were charged with conspiracy, unlawful production, storage and transportation of 309 kilograms of Ephedrine, a banned substance.

    They are Okeke Celestine, 36, Sunday Amobi, 38, Ilelabayo Oluwade,50, Eze Paul, 39, Ezeh Ikechukwu, 36, and Ike Samson.

    Prosecuting counsel Jonathan Ogwunbor said the defendants on March 19 conspired to import the banned substance from Ghana illegally.

    Celestine, Amobi, Ezeh and Samson were accused of engaging in the possession of equipment and material for the production of another banned substance, Methamphetamine.

    READ ALSO: NDLEA nabs 35 suspected drug peddlers

    The alleged offence, according to Ogwubor, is contrary to and punishable under sections 14(b), 11(b), 11(a) 19, 20(1)(a) and 20(e) of the NDLEA Act of 2004.The defendants pleaded not guilty.

    Justice Saliu Saidu granted them bail for N30 million each with two sureties.

    One of the sureties must be a landed property owner within the court’s jurisdiction; the other must be a Federal or Lagos State government worker on Grade Level 15 and above.

    Justice Saidu also ordered that the defendants and their sureties must submit two recent passport photographs to the court.

    He directed the prosecutor and registrar to verify that the bail terms have been fulfilled.

    Justice Saidu adjourned till May 30 for trial.

     

  • Businessman arraigned for ‘dealing’ in substandard engine oil

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has arraigned a businessman, Cajethan Chike Muonagolu, at the Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly dealing in substandard engine oil.

    He was charged with his company, Richbon Nigeria Ltd, before Justice Saliu Saidu.

    They allegedly committed the offence last December 12 at ASPAMDA Trade Fair Complex, Lagos Badagry Expressway.

    SON said they conspired to deal in 15,000 cartons of Prime Plasma, Prime ATF and Stanley brand of engine oil which it said are substandard.

    The prosecution said the defendants claimed that the products were genuine, contrary to Section 3 (6) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act of 2004.

    They also allegedly failed to comply with SON Conformity Assessment Programe (MANCAP) by dealing in engine oil that did not have the requisite MANCAP certification.

    According to the prosecutor, Adeleke Olofindare, the offence is punishable under Section 26 of the SON Act, 2015.

    The defendants pleaded not guilty.

    Justice Saliu Saidu adjourned until Thursday.

    Read also: Businessman arraigned for alleged dud cheques issuance

    This is coming less than a month after SON arraigned four men before Justice Oluremi Oguntoyibo of the same court.

    They were charged with producing and selling adulterated engine oil.

    Uche Johnson, Olaide Shittu, Kingsley Meteke and Abdulquadri Olayinka were said to have adulterated 128 drums and 9.45 litres of engine oil.

    They allegedly claimed that the products with genuine engine oil and sold them to unsuspecting motorists.

    Their trial is ongoing.

    SON undertook a nationwide raid on suspected adulterated and substandard lubricants in response to consumer complaints about engine failures caused by substandard oils.

    The Organisation is also prosecuting other standards infractions relating to adulterated and substandard lubricants across the country.

  • ‘How we ‘caught’ businessman with cloned SON logo’

    The Federal High Court in Lagos Monday heard how 147 cartons of NSNOWS Gas Refrigerants with cloned Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) logos were allegedly found in the possession of the Managing Director of Agastorm Ltd, Nonso Udoye.

    A prosecution witness, Aladesuyi Oluwadare, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), told Justice Saliu Saidu that a SON patrol team discovered the products in Agastrom’s warehouse at Ebute-Meta, Lagos.

    Udoye, of 36, Ayara Street, Surulere, Lagos, is standing trial on a 15-count charge of forgery and counterfeiting following his arraignment by the SON on February 25.

    The defendant has been on remand following his inability to perfect his bail terms.

    At the commencement of proceedings Monday, Oluwadare was led in examination-in-chief by SON’s counsel, Amaka Allen-Ngbale.

    The witness testified that he was part of a five-man team that investigated the case following a petition by SON Director-General to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP).

    Oluwadare said: “It was stated in the petition that on December 7, 2017, during a patrol by a SON patrol unit, they intercepted a warehouse at No. 137, Bornu Street, Ebute-Meta, belonging to the defendant. On inspection of the goods inside the warehouse, they discovered cartons of NSNOWS Gas Refrigerants and cylinders with unauthorised SON seal. So they locked up the warehouse.”

    He told the court that following Udoye’s arrest, the businessman took the police investigative team to another warehouse, “where another product, Chap Gas Refrigerant Cylinder, was discovered.”

    The witness testified that SON told the police team that it did not authorise the use of its seal on the products.”

    Following a brief cross-examination by defence counsel Emmanuel Okoroafor, Justice Saidu adjourned till May 18 fir continuation of trial.

    According to the charge, Udoye allegedly “made an impression of a production registration counterfeit seal knowing the seal to be counterfeit of the SON on 147 cartons of NSNOWS Gas Refrigerants of 12 cylinders each stored at the warehouse.

    The court also heard that he imported “1441 cartons of Regfrigerant Gas that did not comply with any industrial standard”, among others.”

    The alleged offences contravened sections 465, 467, 467(4)(v) and 468 of the Criminal Code Act, 2004 and sections 26(2)(b) and 26(2)(b)(iii) of the Standard Organisation of Nigeria Act, 2015.

    Read Also: SON destroys substandard LPG cylinders

  • Court orders interim forfeiture of Ikoyi property which `warehoused’ N200m

    Court orders interim forfeiture of Ikoyi property which `warehoused’ N200m

    Justice Saliu Saidu of a Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday ordered the temporary forfeiture to the Federal Government of Flat 7B, Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos.

    The property is said to have housed the sums of 43,000 dollars, 27,800 pounds, and N23 million.

    The sums were said to have been found in iron cabinets and “Ghana-Must-Go” bags in April.

    The judge issued the orders following an ex parte application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    Before now, the anti-graft agency had mentioned the wife of the sacked Director-General of the Nigeria Intelligence Agency, Mrs Folashade Oke, as the owner of the flat.

    The commission had insisted that it found out that Mrs Oke made a cash payment of 1.6 million dollars for the purchase of the flat between Aug. 25 and Sept.3, 2015.

    The EFCC further argued that the woman allegedly purchased the property in the name of a company, Chobe Ventures Ltd, of which she and her son, were directors.

    Payments were said to have been made to Fine and Country Ltd.

    The anti-graft agency explained that Mrs Oke made the cash payment in tranches of 700,000 dollars, 650,000 dollars, and 353,700 dollars, to a subsidiary of a Bureau de Change — Sulah Petroleum and Gas Ltd.

    The company was said to have later converted the sums into N360 million and subsequently paid it to Fine and Country Ltd for the purchase of the property.

    The judge adjourned the case until Nov. 30 for any interested party to appear and show cause why the interim forfeiture should not be a permanent forfeiture.

  • Alleged N125b fraud: EFCC re-arraigns Keystone Bank ex-MD

    Alleged N125b fraud: EFCC re-arraigns Keystone Bank ex-MD

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday re-arraigned former Managing Director of Bank PHB (now Keystone Bank), Mr Francis Atuche at the Federal High Court in Lagos.

    He was charged along with a former defunct Spring Bank Plc Managing Director, Mr. Charles Ojo on an amended 45-count charge bordering on alleged N125 billion fraud.

    The re-arraignment was caused by the transfer of Justice Saliu Saidu to another division after the trial had commenced.

    The case will begin afresh for the fifth time before Justice A. Faji.

    Atuche and Ojo have been standing trial since 2009 over allegations of acquiring Keystone Bank’s shares using depositors’ funds.

    They pleaded not guilty to the 45 counts of conspiracy, reckless granting and approval of loans and money laundering, between September 1, 2006, and 2009.

    Atuche was also accused of applying N3.5billion being proceeds of unlawful loans granted to Tradjek Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Futureview Financial Services Ltd, in payment for his acquisition of shares of Bank PHB using various companies as fronts with an intention to conceal the ownership of the loans.

    Atuche
    Atuche

    EFCC said he collaborated with different companies to conceal the genuine origins of the N3.5billion used to acquire the bank’s shares.

    The alleged offences, all of which Atuche denied, contravene Section 14(1) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act and Section 516 of the Criminal Code Act Cap 38, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

    Reckless granting of loans contravene Section 7(1) (b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act and punishable under section 7(2)(b).

    The defendants pleaded not guilty.

    Ojo’s lawyer, Mr Osahon Idemudia, urged Justice Faji to allow the defendants continue on the bail terms granted them on November 9, 2009, by Justice Akinjide Ajakaiye, before whom they were first arraigned.

    Justice Faji granted the prayer, holding that the defendants shall continue on the N50million bail with one responsible surety each.

    The surety, he said, must deposit the Certificate of Occupancy of his landed property either in Ikoyi or Victoria Island.

    Justice Faji, however, said the sureties must update their tax clearance within 14 days.

    He adjourned till February 23, March 16 and 17 for trial.

    [news_list display=”tag” tag=”Trial” count=”6″ show_more=”on”]

  • Court adjourns trial of Akpolobolokemi, others

    Court adjourns trial of Akpolobolokemi, others

    The trial of Patrick Akpobolokemi, a former Director-General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), was on Thursday adjourned to March 22.

    Akpobolokemi is standing trial alongside nine others on a 40-count charge.

    They had all pleaded not guilty to the charge.

    Justice Saliu Saidu adjourned the suit in order to rule on the admissibility of a document tendered by a witness, who is Compliance Officer with a bank.

    Justice Saliu Saidu granted the prayer of the prosecution to withdraw a document which it had tendered on Wednesday as exhibit.

    Counsel for the accused, Mr. Joseph Nwobike (SAN), had at that proceedings objected to the withdrawal of the document and urged the court to mark the document as ‘reject’.

    The Prosecution witness, Adekunle, who was led in evidence by Mr. Festus Keyamo, informed the court that the anti-graft agency had requested for the account statement of Thlumbau Enterprises Ltd which his bank obliged.

    Upon the identification of the documents and while counsel to the EFCC applied to the court to admit it, Nwobike objected to its admissibility.

    Citing the provisions of sections 102 of the Evidence Act, Nwobike argued that the documents were uncertified photocopies and not original documents.

    Counsel to the other accused also aligned themselves with the submission of Nwobike.

    Justice Saidu adjourned the suit to March 22 for ruling.

    Akpobolokemi is charged alongside Captain Ezekiel Agaba, Ekene Nwakuche, Felix Bob-Nabena, Captain Warredi Enisouh, Governor Juan, Ugo Frederick and Timi Alari.

    Al-kenzo Ltd and Penniel Engineering Services Ltd were also charged.