An Osun State High Court sitting in Ilesa has sentenced a septuagenarian, Chief Moses Adeniyi, to seven years imprisonment for raping two teenage pupils.
The judgment is contained in a statement issued by the Information Officer of the Osun State Ministry of Justice, Mr. Opeyemi Bello, in Osogbo on Thursday.
Adeniyi, who is the Loja, Araromi Otokobo was arraigned in court on Mach 28 2011 was charged with rape and indecent assault.
The prosecution team from the Ministry of Justice: Tijani Adekilekun, who appeared along with Folasade Adekomi told the court that the convict offered a free ride to the girls, who were coming back from school and he drove them to his hotel where he raped the two teenagers one after the other.
They told the court that the two offences were contrary to the provisions of Sections 358 and 360 Criminal Code Cap 34 vol.11 Laws of Osun State.
Justice Kudirat Akano held that the prosecution counsels proved beyond reasonable doubt that Adeniyi unlawfully had carnal knowledge of the two girls and thereafter sentenced him to seven years imprisonment.
The statement explained further that Adeniyi, who was a former neighbour of the victims raped the two girls aged 13 and 14 who are pupils of St.Margaret Girls School Ilesa in May 2010.
Instead of taking them to their destination, Adeniyi was said to have taken them to his hotel and took them inside one of the hotel rooms where he raoed them and warned them not to shout or tell anybody about it.
After defiling them, he was said to have wiped their private parts with a piece of white cloth and warned them against telling anyone what happened to them. He was said to have threatened them that anyone who disclosed his action would die.
But one of the parents of the victims was sad to have been told that her daughter was given a free ride by a man and she went to inquire from the school who the man was.
The girls were said to be afraid but refused to disclose what Adeniyi did to them for fear of death.
They were said to be given an assurance by their teachers that nothing would happen to them if they told them what happened before they narrated their ordeal.
The Kaduna State Government on Thursday asked a Kaduna High Court to sentence 50 Shiite members to death for allegedly causing the death of a soldier.
The government had filed a five-count charge against the accused before Justice David Wyom.
It accused them of criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly, culpable homicide, disturbance of public peace and wrongful restrain.
In the petition, the counsel to the government, Bayero Diri, said the offences are punishable under Sections 97, 221, 102, 106 and 225 of the Penal Code Law, Laws of Kaduna State 1991.
The government said the offence was committed between December 12 and 14, 2015 in Zaria.
It alleged that the suspects among other things shot dead Yakubu Dankaduna, a corporal of the Nigerian Army “with a gun when he alighted from the convoy to disperse the IMN members.“.
The prosecution told the court that they intend to present 39 witnesses.
The plea of the accused persons was not taken as the judge adjourned sitting till May 16.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the 50 suspects were among the 265 persons currently in custody, who were arrested during the Shiites clash with the Army on Dec. 12 and Dec. 14, 2015.
ABUJA — The embattled National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, yesterday, opened his defence to the seven-count charge the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, preferred against him.
President Jonathan
In a bid to establish his innocence, Metuh, who is facing trial alongside his company, Destra Investment Limited, over alleged N400 million fraud, produced his first witness to testify before the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.
The witness, DW-1, Mr. Ike Abonyi, who identified himself as a journalist and Media Consultant to the PDP, narrated before the court, events that led to the alleged transfer of N400 million into Metuh’s company account, prior to the 2015 presidential election.
Abonyi, who said he was part of the media team engaged to help and “repackage the battered image of the PDP,” told the court that he attended the meeting where former President Goodluck Jonathan directed Metuh to submit his corporate account for money to be “dropped” into it to enhance campaign activities of the party.
Led in evidence by Metuh’s lawyer, Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, the witness said ex-President Jonathan gave the directive after he watched a presentation that was made by a team of media experts constituted by Metuh to launder his image before the general election.
He said the team was headed by the Managing Director of a public relations firm, CNC Connect, Mr. Yomi Badejo. Abonyi told the court that Jonathan was moved to act after the team, during its presentation, informed him that his public image was in bad shape.
He said the candid appraisal of the image of the ex-President by his team did not go down well with the then media aide to the President, Dr. Reuben Abati, who he said took it as an indictment on his office.
Party members present
According to the witness, some senior members of the party, who were present at the meeting when Jonathan demanded the account number, included the then Vice President Namadi Sambo, then Senate President David Mark and former National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Adamu Muazu.
Others were former Governors of Cross River and Anambra States, Liyel Imoke and Peter Obi, respectively, as well as media aides to the President, Dr. Abati and Chief Doyin Okupe.
The witness’ testimony
The witness said: “The team, anchored by CNC Connect, preferred some strategies and after rehearsals and testing, we all agreed that we have a good product to present and Chief Metuh said he would wait for clearance from the Presidential Villa for a date for the presentation.
“One afternoon, he told me that he just received a call from the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Adamu Muazu, that the President would be ready for the presentation that night.
“All the other members of the team were resident in Abuja except the company, CNC connect, which was based in Lagos.
“He called MD of the firm to take next available flight for the presentation. Because he was already expecting the appointment, Yomi took the next available flight and came in around 6pm.
“Because he was coming from Lagos, other members of the team went with one vehicle while Metuh carried Badejo. “At the villa, only Metuh’s car was allowed to go in, but they waited for us to be cleared by the security.
“After then, we were ushered to a waiting room. Metuh left us and entered the inner room. Fifteen minutes later, he came and called us and we entered inside a very large parlour with the President seated, the Vice President, Senate President, Chairman of the party, then governor of Cross River, Imoke, then governor of Anambra State, Obi and some media aides to the President, Dr. Ruben Abati and Doyin Okupe.
The presentation
“We sat down, after a while, the President said ‘Olisa where are your men?’ and he called us up and the MD of CNC Connect was the first to speak for the team and we went there with a projector and demonstrated the strategies without a microphone.
“After the presentation, the President requested for comments from other members of the team. After our comment, he said jokingly that we were too hard on him. “But we made it clear that his image was in bad shape and that he himself was not helping the matter with the way he was acting.
Abati reacts “At a point Abati, who saw our presentation as an indictment on him, told the President that the situation was not as bad as we tried to portray it. But the President overruled him.
“After the presentation as well as that of others, including ones from Abati and his team, Okupe and his team and other professionals brought in by politicians, the President asked for comments. Those with him said they were impressed with what we did.
“I recall vividly, comments by former governor of Anambra, who told the President that if what we presented is achievable, that we should be mobilised before the President starts his campaign.
“He said if not, it will be difficult to win the election because of public perception at that time.
“The President then said since it appeared consensual, that Metuh and his team did a better job, he would advise that all the others collapse into the team, but he would want the consultant to provide the direction.”
While being cross-examined by EFCC lawyer, Mr. Sylvanus Tahir, the witness said he was not aware if the money was released to Metuh by the former NSA, Dasuki.
Meantime, trial Justice Okon Abang, yesterday, fixed April 20 for counsel to Metuh’s firm, Chief Tochukwu Onwugbufo, SAN, to cross-examine the witness.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/alleged-n400m-fraud-jonathan-asked-metuh-submit-companys-account-witness/
It was a bad day at the court yesterday for the spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh, as he failed in efforts to stall proceedings in his trial, following which Justice Okon Abang ordered him to open his defence on Monday, failing which he will lose the opportunity.
Metuh and his company, Destra Investment limited, are being tried before the Federal High Court, Abuja for unlawfully receiving N400m from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and engaging in money laundering.
Olisa Metuh in Court
Yesterday, Justice Abang, in a series of rulings, rejected all applications by Metuh and Destra, which the judge said were only intended to stall proceedings in the case. Yesterday’s proceedings lasted for about seven hours (from 9am to after 4pm).
At a point, Metuh, who had complained that he was not allowed to sit in court, pleaded with the court to allow him walk for some minutes, having sat for a long time. The proceedings were later suspended about 10 minutes in view of Metuh’s request.
The first ruling was on a motion in which the defendants urged the judge to disqualify himself from further presiding over the case and refer it back to the Chief Judge for reassignment to another judge.
The defendants hinged the motion on their claim, among others, that the judge had exhibited bias in his handling of the case. They had made similar allegations in a petition to the court’s Chief Judge, Justice Ibrahim Auta, which Justice Auta rejected and directed Justice Abang to continue to hear the case.
Dismissing the motion yesterday, Justice Abang upheld the argument by the prosecution lawyer, Sylvanus Tahir, to the effect that the defendants failed to provide sufficient facts to support their claim that the judge was biased.
The judge also refused another motion by Metuh and his company, praying the court to adjourn the case indefinitely, pending the determination of an application for stay of proceedings which they filed before the Court of Appeal, Abuja.
In refusing the application, the judge held that such prayer would have been granted in deference to the Court of Appeal, if the case was a civil one.
He was of the view that the case, being a criminal one, the extant law regulating criminal proceedings in the country – the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 frowns at such interlocutory (mid-proceedings) adjournment with its provision in Section 306.
The judge also noted that there was no order by the Court of Appeal staying proceedings before his court and that, by virtue of the provision of Section 306 of the ACJA, it would be wrong for the court to grant such adjournment.
Justice Abang equally rejected some other oral applications for adjournment made by lawyers to Metuh and his company.
One of such application was by Tochukwu Onwugbufor (SAN) who urged the court to adjourn the case on the grounds that he was briefed the previous day to represent Metuh’s company, even when both Metuh and his company were, before yesterday, jointly represented by a team of lawyers made up of five Senior Advocates.
Onwugbufor, at the commencement of proceedings, urged the court to adjourn to enable him apply and receive records of proceedings in the case, to familiarise himself with the case, to receive proper briefing from his client and to allow him sufficient time to prepare for his client’s defence.
He argued that it was the right of his client to be accorded all the necessary facilities, including sufficient time to enable him prepare his defence.
The Senior Advocate complained that the Court’s Registrar and prosecution lawyer refused to accept the letter he brought to court yesterday, seeking adjournment on the ground that he was just briefed.
Responding, prosecution lawyer, Sylvanus Tahir argued that the team of lawyers representing the defendants have failed to comply with the condition precedent, as provided in Section 349(7) and (8) of the ACJA to qualify Onwugbufor to appear in the case as a new lawyer for Destra.
He argued that by the provision, a lawyer withdrawing from a case is required to inform the court at least, three days before the next hearing date.
“Section 349 (7) & (8) of the ACJA provides for how a counsel in a matter should conduct his case and procedure for disengagement.
“Up till now, there is no such notice of disengagement from the firms of the five Senior Advocates, namely Onyechi Ikpeazu, Chris Uche, Ifedayo Adedipe, Emeka Etiaba and Goody Uche, who have been representing the defendants from inception.
“There is no notice of withdrawal by any of the lawyers mentioned either in group or individually. If such letter exists, it has not been served on the prosecution. Rather than comply with the law, we are told that a counsel, seeking to come in, who has not properly been allowed in, is writing for an adjournment.
“Without complying with Section 349(7)(8), this court cannot take cognisance of the presence of Onwugbufor SAN,” Tahir said.
On Onwugbufor’s argument that refusing his application for adjournment would amount to denial of fair hearing, Tahir argued that that issue does not arise.
“Fair hearing envisaged in the Constitution is to a party in the case and not to his counsel, who seeks to come in at the 11th hour, without following due procedure.
“Right from the inception of this case, no party has been denied fair hearing. The defendants have not claimed that proceedings were conducted in a language they do not understand.
“There is no complaint that they have been denied the right to legal representation. In fact they have a consortium of five Senior Advocates and a legion of junior lawyers representing them.
“The requirement of fair hearing by the Constitution has been observed to the letter in this case. We were last in court on March 24. Between then and now, if the 2nd defendant, which is an entity owned by the 1st defendant (Metuh), had wished to disengage its lawyer, it has enough time to have done that.”
He urged the court to refuse the application for adjournment, a request the judge, in his ruling upheld and refused to adjourn on the strength of Onwugbufor’s application.
Following the judge’s last ruling, rejecting his plea for adjournment, Onwugbufor refused to sit down, insisting the judge must hear his last submission. He was still standing when the judge, who ordered Metuh and his company to open their defence by calling their witnesses, later adjourned to Monday, April 11 (for the defence to open its case).
Although the case involving former Chief of Defence staff, Alex Badeh, was later called, trial could not go on because of time constraint. The judge adjourned the case to April 12.
An Evbouriaria Magistrates’ Court in Benin, Edo State, has sentenced one Joseph Nanchang, to three years imprisonment for stealing the sum of N300,000.
The presiding magistrate Mrs. C. E. Oghuma, sentenced the convict to a three -year jail terms on Friday with no option of fine.
Nanchang had been arraigned on two counts on conspiracy and stealing, to which he had pleaded not guilty.
The prosecutor, Sergeant Olatoye Oluwaseun, had told the court that the 20-year-old convict, along with others now at large, committed the crime on February 23, 2016.
Oluwaseun had explained that the convict stole the said amount from one Mrs. Victoria Owie at 18, Muritala Mohammed Way in Benin.
According to the prosecutor, the offence contravened Section 516 and 390 (9) of the Criminal Code Cap. 48, Vol. II, Laws of the defunct Bendel State of Nigeria,1976, as applicable in Edo.
A detective with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Michael Wetkas, on Tuesday narrated to the Code of Conduct Tribunal how the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, allegedly diverted Kwara State Government’s funds as the governor of the state.
Bukola Saraki
The witness said Saraki, who was the governor of Kwara State between 2003 and 2011, used the proceeds of the loot to repay personal bank loans which the former governor allegedly expended on the acquisition of landed assets in Lagos and Abuja.
Saraki is being prosecuted on 13 counts of false and anticipatory asset declaration which he made at the beginning and at the end of each of his two terms as governor.
Wetkas was the Federal Government’s first prosecution witness in a trial which only commenced on Tuesday after about six months of delay caused by a series of interlocutory applications and appeals deployed by Saraki.
The witness said, “It was discovered that the properties were acquired through the loans.
“The loans were repaid, through cash lodgements collected from the defendant at the Kwara State Government House and made in GTB, GRA, Ilorin branch.”
Wetkas said it was discovered that some of the individuals, who lodged funds into the accounts, were bank officials.
He added that the bank officials and some aides to the former governor collected the funds lodged into the accounts directly from Saraki at the Kwara State Government House.
He explained that Saraki paid back the loans with Kwara State Government’s fund through his aides, one of whom lodged between N600,000 and N900,000 in the former governor’s account 50 times on a particular day.
He said, “Because of the suspicious inflows into the account, the bank (GTB) officials were invited. The reason for the invitation of the officials was that some of the individuals, who were making the cash lodgements into the account, were bank officials.
“One Oluwatujimu reported to the commission.”
From our interactions with him, we discovered that some of the lodgements were made through his superior at the bank, Bayo Daudu, who was the Relationship Manager of the account.
“In our interaction with Daudu, it was discovered that the cash sums were handed over to him by the defendant (Saraki) for lodgement in the account.
“According to Daudu, he goes to Kwara State Government House to collect the money from the defendant for lodgement into the account at the GRA Ilorin branch of GTB.
“We discovered one name, Abdul Adama, who made transaction 50 times into the account in a single day. The sum was broken down to N600, 000 and N900, 000 and was lodged in the same day.
“Subsequently, after that one, Ubi made a lodgement on the same day about 20 times in the same range of N600,000 and N900,000. Adama reported that the cash sums were handed over to him by the defendant and stated further that the cash sums that were lodged in by Ubi into the same account were from the defendant.
“Adama and Ubi were personal assistants to the defendant while he was governor. Further investigations revealed that other individuals, who made lodgements into the account, were fictitious.
“From the lodgements into the accounts, we observed and discovered that one Ubi (we don’t have his surname) made five lodgements of over N37m in cash.”
According to the witness, Saraki failed to declare many of the landed assets as of 2011 when he completed his second term as governor.
The prosecution, led by Mr. Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), crossed the last legal hurdle before it could call its first witness on Tuesday after the tribunal dismissed another request for an adjournment by the defence.
The defence team had sought another adjournment on the basis of a fresh application for stay of proceedings and appeals, both of which they only filed on Monday, against a ruling of the tribunal which had been delivered on March 24.
Wetkas, who was led in evidence by Jacobs, said the EFCC received a number of petitions, accusing Saraki of abuse of office, misappropriation of public funds and money laundering shortly after the Senate President completed his second term as governor.
The witness said this prompted the then Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Lamorde, to set up an investigative team, which he (Wetkas) headed in 2014.
He said his team, which later harmonised its findings with another broad investigative team, comprising operatives of the Department of State Services and the Code of Conduct Bureau, revealed that Saraki operated a number of companies which had accounts with Zenith and Guaranty Trust banks.
He said investigation revealed that between 2005 and 2013, a GTB account of one of the firms had an inflow of about N4bn, with the major source of the fund coming from the N2.5bn loans which he took from the bank within the period.
He said between 2009 and 2013, the dollar account operated by Saraki’s firm, Tiny Tee Properties Ltd, had an inflow of $6m.
The witness said, “The commission received several petitions from various groups. One of the petitioners was Kwara Freedom Network. They brought several petitions all bordering on abuse of office by the defendant, misappropriation of public funds and money laundering.
“Sometime in 2014, the then executive chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorde received intelligence reports of suspicious transactions involving the defendant. He set up a team of investigators. Our task was to investigate the intelligence reports.
“The investigation report was reviewed by my team. In the course of our investigation, we discovered that there were several companies which were linked to the defendant. Some of them include Carlisle Properties Investment Ltd, Skyview Properties Ltd, Limkars Ltd, and Tiny-Tee Ltd. Some of the companies maintain accounts with Guaranty Trust Bank, Zenith Bank, Access Bank and other banks.
“From the investigation, it was discovered that the defendant maintained three accounts with the GTB. The first account is a naira currency account, the second is a US dollar account and the third is a pound sterling account.
“The naira account was analysed and it was discovered that between 2005 and 2013, the account had an inflow of about N4bn. The major source of inflow into the account was loans taken from GTB within the period. The loans were about N2.5bn, and the other source of inflow into the account was massive lodgements by individuals. Other inflows into the account were from the companies.
“It was discovered that the money was used for the purchase of property. The dollar account was also analysed. The major source of inflow into the dollar account was Tiny Tee Properties Ltd, which was about $2m. Other source was from bureau de change companies. And the rest was cash lodgements by individuals.
“The cash in the dollar account between 2009 and 2013 was $6m. We discovered that up to $3.4m was wired to American Express Services Europe Limited, which was used to fund the defendant’s American Express Service New York card account number 374588216836009.
“The defendant wired over 1.5m pound sterling to Fortis Bank for the purchase of a property in the UK.”
He said Saraki failed to list the assets in his asset declaration form.
Wetkas added, “My team searched the office of Carslie Properties and Investment Limited in Lagos at 30 Saka Tinubu, Victoria Island, Lagos, where the team discovered documents containing the list of documents of properties linked to the first defendant.
“Some of them were purchased from Presidential Implementation Committee on Government Properties.
“Some were bought from the Central Bank of Nigeria. We had to write a number of land registries in Abuja, Lagos Land Registry and we also wrote the CBN.
“These properties were not in the asset declaration forms.
“In analysing the forms, some infractions were observed on some of the forms.
“We discovered that property, known as 15 Mcdonald, Ikoyi, Lagos, which was purchased through a company, Hitel Limited, was not declared in the forms. We also discovered that 17A and 17B of Mcdonald, Ikoyi, Lagos, were bought for aggregate sum of N497.2m in 2006.”
He said the Senate President failed to declare his property at Plot 2A Glover Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, which he bought for N325,000,000 between 2007 and 2008, through his company called Carlisle Properties.
He said the accused also failed to declare the property at 37A Glover Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, which he allegedly bought through Carlisle Properties.
He stated that the defendant failed to declare the property at No. 1 Targus Street, Maitama, Abuja, otherwise known as 2482, Cadastral Zone A06, Abuja, on September 16, 2003.
The accused allegedly failed to declare the property at No. 3 Targus Street, Maitama, Abuja, otherwise known as 2482, Cadastral Zone A06, Abuja, which he acquired from one Alhaji Attahiru Adamu.
He was said to have failed to declare his leasehold interest in No. 42 Remi Fani-Kayode Street, Ikeja, Lagos, which he acquired through his company, Skyview Properties Limited, from First Finance Trust Limited.
His asset declaration forms, which he submitted to the CCB at the beginning and at the end of each of his tenure as governor in 2003 and 2011, were admitted as exhibits.
Also admitted was the asset declaration forms he has submitted to the CCB as a senator since 2011.
The defence, led by Mr. Paul Usoro (SAN), said he would defer his objection to the admissibility of the documents in his final written address.
Saraki was accompanied to the Tuesday’s proceedings by some senators.
The federal high court, Abuja, has adjourned ruling indefinitely on the application of Sambo Dasuki, former national security adviser (NSA), to stop his trial.
Although the case was listed on the cause list of the court on Monday, Adeniyi Ademola, the judge, did not appear.
The court clerk told TheCable that the case had been adjourned and that a new date would be communicated to the parties.
At the hearing of the application on March 3, Dasuki had said that investors’ confidence in the country was shaken because of the federal government’s refusal to obey court orders.
The former NSA, who was speaking through his counsel, Joseph Daudu (SAN), before Justice Ademola, had urged the court to halt his trial until the government complied with its order granting him bail.
“How will the government look like at the end of the day? Will investors be confident in this country when court make orders, but they are not obeyed?” he had said.
In November, 2015, Justice Ademola granted Dasuki bail, but he was rearrested immediately after his release from Kuje prison by the Department of State Services (DSS).
On February 16, Dipo Okpeseyi (SAN), counsel to the DSS, had announced to the court that the prosecution was ready for trial to commence.
But Daudu said that the defence counsel was not ready to proceed with the trial because the federal government was still keeping the accused person in detention despite an order of the court granting him bail.
“We cannot be ready for trial until the defendant enjoys his constitutional rights,” he had said.
“We apply that we should be given time to prepare the defence. The conduct of the prosecution has not enabled him to enjoy his constitutional rights.
“The worst is that for about seven weeks we do not know where he is.
“Any of us here who proceed to defend an accused person in this circumstance may lose his license of practice.”
However, Okpeseyi argued that the prosecution was not stopping Dasuki from enjoying his freedom.
He said that the accused person was not being held for the charges before the court, but on separate charges.
He therefore asked the court to reject the request for adjournment and to commence trial.
The court, however, fixed April 4, for ruling on the application.
Dasuki is facing a four-count charge of money laundering and illegal possession of firearms brought against him by the Department of State Services (DSS).
He is also facing multiple counts of laundering money at the federal capital territory (FCT) high court, Abuja.
Two judges of the FCT high court had dismissed his application to stop his trial.
South Africa’s top court held on Thursday that President Jacob Zuma defied the constitution when he used $15m state funds to renovate his private home and ordered a refund.
The 11 justices of the Constitutional Court unanimously ruled that the President should reimburse some of the sum spent on the renovations, the amount of which will be determined by the national treasury.
According to CNN, the treasury has 60 days to file a report detailing the amount, and Zuma has 45 days after that to pay the money.
The court said Zuma “failed to uphold, defend and respect the constitution, as the supreme law of the land” with regard to the upgrading of his homestead in Nkandla, about 300 miles south-east of Johannesburg.
“The constitution, rule of law and accountability are the sharp and mighty sword ready to chop off the ugly head of impunity,” the court added.
The decision seems to settle the controversy that dates back nearly seven years, when Zuma embarked on the renovations soon after he resumed office for his first term.
The renovations to his home included a swimming pool, cattle enclosure, chicken run, visitors centre and amphitheatre. Opposition parties filed two cases, alleging misuse of public funds over the hefty price tag.
After the ruling, a statement from the South African government said Zuma “has noted and respects” the judgment.
“The President will reflect on the judgment and its implications on the state and government, and will in consultation with other impacted institutions of state, determine the appropriate action,” the statement added.
The court also found the country’s National Assembly in violation for its actions regarding the investigation of the President.
“The court thus held that the National Assembly’s resolution, based on the minister’s findings exonerating the President from liability, was inconsistent with the Constitution and unlawful,” the ruling summary said.
An Ekiti State High Court in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday sentenced a school proprietor, Mr Babatunde Ibitoye, to 10 years imprisonment after finding him guilty of raping a 10-year old pupil of his school.
Ibitoye, owner of God’s Grace Nursery and Primary School, located at Fayemi Market, Agric Olope Area, Ajilosun in the state capital city, committed the offence on June 10, 2013.
In her brief judgement, Justice Toyin Abodunde, said evidence by the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that the convict had sexually abused the victim, who was her pupil as at the time the offence was committed.
The trial judge agreed with the averment of the Director of Public Prosecution and the victim’s evidence that the defendant was caught at the scene of the incident.
“I rely heavily on the evidence of the victim that the defendant had been having sexual relationship with her before he was caught. That some of the teachers even gave evidence that she bled profusely few days before that time further confirmed that she had been sexually abused.
“The fact that the defendant was caught pants down was enough to prove that the accused person committed the offence contrary to section 31(c)of the Ekiti State Child Rights Law 2013 and he is hereby sentenced to ten years imprisonment without option of fine.”
Ibitoye was caught on the June 10, 2013 in a bush near Fayemi market, where he was said to have sexually abused the victim under the guise that he
was taking her home after the school hours.
On that day, Ibitoye was said to have carried three other pupils in his bus and drove towards a bushy area near the market to excrete, but only to enter the bush with the victim.
Before entering the bush, Ibitoye reportedly sent other pupils on different errands. But some auto mechanics operating within the vicinity suspected him and immediately tip-toed towards the bush where they caught the convict having carnal knowledge of the pupil.
He was apprehended by the people and handed over to the Police at Ologede station in Ado Ekiti for onward transfer to the police headquarters for prosecution.
The then government of Governor Kayode Fayemi immediately ordered the closure of the school and it has not been reopened since.
The Chairperson, Federation of International Female Lawyers, Mrs Rita
Ilevbaren, who commended the judgement, urged the victims of rape to always speak out.
Ilevbaren lauded the State Ministry of Justice, the judiciary and the victim’s parents for diligent prosecution of the case, describing this as a landmark in the battle against rampancy of rape in the State.
Justice Okon Abang of a Federal High Court in Abuja has debunked the claim of the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Olisa Metuh, that they had known each other before the PDP’s spokesperson’s trial started in his court on January 15 this year.
The judge denied the claim and other allegations contained in a petition sent by one of Metuh’s lawyers, Mr. Emeka Etiaba (SAN), to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, asking for the re-assignment of the PDP’s spokesperson’s trial to another judge.
Olisa Metuh in Court
Our correspondent sighted Justice Abang’s response, dated March 23, 2016, which was addressed to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court.
The judge, in his response, maintained that he never knew Metuh to be his classmate in the 1987/1988 set of the Nigerian Law School, which according to him, was made up of over 1,000 students.
He added that if Metuh had truly been his classmate, that would never change the facts of the case and the relevant laws.
Metuh and his company, Destra Investments Limited, are being prosecuted before Justice Abang by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The EFCC is prosecuting Metuh and his firm on seven counts of money laundering involving $2m cash transaction and contract fraud relating to the N400m the accused allegedly received from the Office of the National Security Adviser in November, 2014.
At a point when the prosecution led by Mr. Sylvanus Tahir had closed its case with eight witnesses, and Metuh was expected to open his defence, Etiaba sent the petition, dated March 11, 2016, to the Federal High Court’s CJ, asking for the re-assignment of the case to another judge.
In the petition, Etiaba claimed that Metuh was a classmate of the judge in the 1988 set of the Nigerian Law School.
He claimed that Metuh and the judge both practised law in Lagos before the PDP spokesperson relocated to Abuja and Justice Abang, on his part, was appointed a judge.
Etiaba also alleged that Metuh met and had discussion with Justice Abang late last year at the L’e Meridien Hotel in Akwa Ibom State, adding that his client was baffled at the views expressed by the judge during their encounter.
The lawyer also accused the judge of denying his client fair hearing by refusing to release to the defence team a copy of the records of proceedings of the court to enable them to appeal against some decisions of the judge in the course of the trial.
But Justice Abang denied all the allegations in his letter to the Chief Judge.
The judge stated that he could not recall either seeing Metuh while at the Law School or coming across him while practising as a lawyer anywhere in the country before he (Abang) was appointed a judge in June 2009.
Justice Abang stated that contrary to Metuh’s claim, he never attended any function at the Uyo hotel where the PDP’s spokesperson claimed they met late last year.
He added that he did not see Metuh at the Law School class reunion meetings which he recently attended in Abuja, Lagos and Enugu.
The judge stated, “With respect to the first issue that the petitioner, Emeka Etiaba (SAN), stated that the 1st defendant in Charge FHC/ABJ/CR/05/2016 was my classmate in the Nigerian Law School, my Lord, for the records, I was at the Law School in 1987/88 academic session.
“I am not aware that Olisa Metuh was my classmate in the Nigerian Law School. I cannot recall seeing him in the time session in my time. In the Law School, we were over 1,000 students and we had then two sessions, morning that I attended.
“He is not from my place, Oron, in Akwa Ibom State. I did not see him as a student at the University of Calabar that I attended between September 1983 and June 1987. I have never met him in practice anywhere in the country before I was elevated to the bench in June 2009.
“Again, he claimed he met me at Le’ Meriden, Uyo, late last year. I was not at Le’ Meriden, Uyo, late last year. I had no function that I attended at the Le’ Meriden, Uyo, late last year. I did not meet him at Le’ Meriden Uyo late last year. If the records show that he is a lawyer and was called to the Nigerian Bar on November 3, 1988, which record I am yet to see, that cannot affect the facts and the law.
“I attended recently my class reunion meeting in Abuja, Lagos and Enugu, I did not see Olisa Metuh in the places I mentioned. I am not related to Olisa Metuh in any way, I do not know where he comes from.”
Concerning the allegation that he delivered rulings in favour of the prosecution, Abang said Metuh’s lawyer ought to know what to do.
The judge also denied the allegation that he deliberately withheld the record of proceedings to scuttle Metuh’s plan to appeal against some of the court’s decisions.
The judge stated, “As regards the issue that I made interlocutory decisions in favour of the prosecution in the matter, my response here is simple, and that is that I am entitled to give decisions in matters placed before me for adjudication having heard parties.
“That is why there are appellate courts. If he is dissatisfied with those decisions, I think Emeka Etiaba (SAN) ought to know what to do.
“As regards the alleged non-release of the record of proceedings, I think Emeka Etiaba (SAN) is not fair to me at all. I will leave him to his conscience. He has an improper motive in this regard.
“For the records, my Lord, the defendant applied for the Certified True Copy of the proceedings at the time the proceedings were going on from day to day. I approved same and directed my secretary to type the proceedings.
“The proceedings were bulky in nature because I heard the case from day to day. When the secretary concluded typing the proceedings, I abandoned all other matters before me and concentrated on checking the typed proceedings to be in line with what were in the court’s records.
“When I proofread the proceedings and was satisfied that it represents what transpired in the open court, I endorsed same for certification and released the proceedings to them on March 15, 2016.”
The judge had on March 9 dismissed Metuh’s no case submission, declaring that the accused had case to answer and directed the defendants to open their defence.
But the case has since then been adjourned three times due to the inability of Metuh and his firm to call their witnesses.
The Comptroller-General of Immigration, Martin Abeshi, has carpeted the former Interior minister, Abba Moro, for saying that the immigration service lacked the capacity to produce international passport booklets and the Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Aliens Card.
Abba Moro, Minister of Interior
Abeshi dismissed Moro’s claims, saying the service had the capacity to produce the
two security documents if adequately funded. The two documents were being produced for the NIS by two private firms.
Moro had told a public hearing by the House Committee on Interior last Wednesday that the agreements the immigration service had with different private companies were not judiciously implemented.
But the CG in a reaction to Moro’s claims at a news conference on Friday in Abuja, said the NIS had well trained personnel who could produce the international passport booklets and the CERPAC cards.
He said, “Moro is entitled to his opinion. If he says we don’t have capacity to produce international passport, what did he do about that in the period he stayed as minister of interior? I don’t believe we don’t have the capacity to produce passports, we have it, the calibre of staff by their training, we have more than enough if available funds are given to us.”
Abeshi stated that the service planned to hold its annual conference and stakeholders interactive forum between April 6-8, 2016 in Lafia, Nasarawa State, noting that the conference is timely in view of the migrant crisis and migration in global discourse.
He explained that the forum would assess the performance of the NIS so far against global best practices, as well as evaluate papers presented, opinions and positions reached in order to fairly administer immigration laws, practices and other related instruments in a standard operational procedures document.
The CG said personalities that would present papers at the conference include the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Arkwright, who would speak on “Immigration Practices and Visa Reforms: The UK Experience;” and the Head of European Union Delegation to Nigeria, Michel Arrion, who would present a paper on The Global Migrant Crisis and the African Perspective.
Others are Senator Monsurat Sunmonu, who would present a paper on “Migration Management through Legislation” and Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, whose paper would be on “Review of the Immigration Act, 2015.
The National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Olisa Metuh, has filed two separate applications, one of which asks Justice Okon Abang of a Federal High Court in Abuja, to disqualify himself from further presiding over his trial.
The other application by Metuh asks the court to adjourn to enable the Court of Appeal rule on his application for stay of proceedings in his trial.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is prosecuting Metuh and his firm, Destra Investments Limited on seven counts of money laundering involving cash transaction with $2m and fraud involving N400m which the PDP spokesperson collected from the Office of the National Security Adviser in November 2014.
Metuh was scheduled to open his defence today filed anchored his application praying the judge to disqualify himself from further presiding over the case on the fact that he was a classmate with the judge in the law school.
The immediate past chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Chidi Odinkalu, has stated that Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court Abuja knows the spokesperson of the Peoples Democratic Party, Olisa Metuh, as a former classmate.
Mr. Metuh, who is facing trial over corruption charges in the court sitting under Mr. Abang, had written to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Ibrahim Auta, demanding that the case be withdrawn from Mr. Abang and assigned to another judge.
Mr. Metuh’s grounds were that Mr. Abang and he were classmates at the Nigerian Law School, Lagos. He also said he feared he might not get fair trial from Mr. Abang because of some views expressed by the Judge when they met at a function in Akwa Ibom State last year.
In reaction, Justice Abang, on Thursday, said he was not aware Mr. Metuh was his classmate.
“I am not aware that the first defendant was my classmate, he said he is my classmate,” the judge said.
However, checks by PREMIUM TIMES revealed that Messrs. Abang and Metuh graduated on the same day, November 3, 1988 from the law school.
In a short reaction to our story on Sunday, Mr. Odinkalu said Mr. Abang “surely knows that he and Olisa went to school together.”
The former human rights chief said he was also in the same class with Messrs. Metuh and Abang as well as some other prominent Nigerians.
“We were all in the same law school set in 1988. We were all admitted to the Bar same day on 3 Nov 1988.
“Fashola, Anyim, Godswill Akpabio, Liyel Imoke, Nnia Nwodo all were in that set.
“I know Olisa and Abang have been together at more than two class reunions. In Lagos, Uyo. Someone isn’t being totally candid,” Mr. Odinkalu said.
An Egor Magistrates’ Court sitting in Benin, Edo State, has ordered that one Osayi Francis be remanded in prison custody for alleged armed robbery, carnal knowledge and attempted rape of a 20-year-old girl.
Francis had been arraigned on a nine-count bordering on conspiracy, armed robbery and rape.
The prosecutor, Sergeant Sunday Lucky, had informed the court that the accused with others, now at large, committed the offence on September 26, 2015, at No. 9, Uwagboe Street, off Uwelu Road, in the state capital.
Lucky told the court that the accused had carnal knowledge of a 20-year-old girl and also attempted to rape one of his victims during the robbery operation.
He alleged that the accused stole a Galaxy phone worth N25,000 from one Peace Omogiator, a cash sum of N20,000 from one Mrs. Juliet Omoruyi.
He also said that the accused allegedly stole an Itel handset valued at N15,000, from one Kelvin Uyigue while a Nokia phone worth N4,500 was stolen from one Dorah Egharevba.
According to the prosecutor, the accused was armed with offensive weapons, such as a gun, cutlass and iron, during his operation.
He explained that the offence contravened sections 6 (b), 2 (1) (a), 2 (a), 516, 359 and 358 of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act Cap R II, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and the Criminal Code Cap. 48, Vol. II, Laws of the defunct Bendel State of Nigeria, 1976, as applicable in Edo.
But the plea of the accused person was not taken, as the presiding magistrate, Mrs. E. L. Igodan, said that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case.
Igodan, therefore, ruled that the accused person’s case file should be sent to the Department of Public Prosecution for legal advice.
Justice Ibrahim Buba of a Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday convicted 14 foreigners of dealing in petroleum products in Nigeria without lawful authority.
The judge found them guilty of dealing in 1,738.087 metric tons of petroleum product in Nigeria without lawful authority or licence as alleged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Justice Buba sentenced 11 out of the 14 convicted foreigners to two years imprisonment with an option to a pay a fine of N2m each.
The judge said the sentence would run from last year March when they were apprehended by the Nigerian Navy and handed over to the EFCC.
Justice Buba, however, sentenced the remaining three convicts who had jumped bail and absconded to five years imprisonment without an option of fine.
The three convicts who jumped bail are Russians.
The judge convicted and sentenced them in absentia and issued a warrant for their arrest, emphasising that their jail term would commence on whatever day they are re-arrested.
The judge ordered the forfeiture of the petroleum products and the vessel into which they were loaded to the Federal Government.
He ordered the two companies convicted alongside with the foreigners to pay N5m fine on each of the five counts levelled against them.
The EFCC had on June 10, 2015 arraigned the 14 convicts on four counts before Justice Buba.
The charge was later amended with the counts increased to five.
The convicts were arraigned alongside their vessel – MT Anukt Emerald, and two companies – Monjasa DMCC, and Glencore Energy UK Ltd.
Their names, as listed on the charge sheet, are Artur Pakhladzhian, Sergo Abbgarian, Vasily Shkundich, vitaliy Bilours, Hlarion Regipor, Laguta Oleksiy and Cadavis Gerarado.
Others are Kretov Andry, Badurian Benjamin, Chepikov Olksan, Naranjo Antero, Patro Christian, Alcayde Joel and Caratiquit Beyan.
They were identified as citizens of Russia, Ukraine, Philippine and Japan.
The prosecutor, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, had told the court that the men were handed over to the EFCC by the Nigerian Navy, which on March 27, 2015 intercepted them with their vessel, MT Anukpet Emerald, loaded with crude oil estimated at 1,738.087 metric tons.
The foreigners were equally said to have been found in unlawful possession of 1,500 metric tons of Automated Gas Oil as well as 3,035 metric tons of Low Pour Fuel Oil.
They had pleaded not guilty and were granted a bail of N50m each, which was guaranteed by Zenith Bank Plc.
Upon the disappearance of the three Russians, the court had subsequently ordered Zenith Bank to forfeit N150m to the Federal Government.
To prove the allegations against the convicts, Oyedepo called seven witnesses, while the defendants, through their lawyer, Mr. Babajide Koku (SAN), called three witnesses.
In his judgment on Friday, Justice Buba said he was satisfied that the prosecution proved its case against the defendants beyond reasonable doubts, adding that had no difficulty in convicting them on all the five counts preferred against them.
Upon their conviction, the defence counsel, Koku, urged the court to temper justice with mercy, saying the convicts were young men in their prime, who had no previous records of conviction.
Koku said the 11 convicts who were in court were only employees carrying out the instruction of their employer and were not privy to the deal.
“We plead for mercy, My Lord. Abraham Lincoln said, ‘I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.’ The convicts are young men in the prime of their lives. They have no family ties in Nigeria. In fact, the convicts here are not the ones in control of the ship. They can at best be described as the laymen of the crew,” Koku said.
Quoting James 2:3 from the Bible and making reference to the Quran, Koku urged the judge to allow mercy to triumph over judgment.
On his own part, Oyedepo said the EFCC had found no previous conviction record on the convicts.
He urged the judge to “invoke the spirit behind Section 1(17) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act,” in sentencing them.
Justice Okon Abang of a Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday denied the petition written against him by the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Olisa Metuh, asking for the transfer of his corruption trial to another judge.
Olisah Metuh
The judge disclosed in the open court on Thursday that one of Metuh’s lawyers, Mr. Emeka Etiaba (SAN), had sent a petition to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim Auta, asking for the reassignment of the case to another judge.
The judge disclosed this while considering an application by one of Metuh’s lawyers, Mr. Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), asking for an adjournment due to the absence of the leader of the defence team, Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), who was said to be on a trip to the University of Ilorin for an eye surgery.
Justice Abang said he never knew Metuh to be his classmate in the law school as alleged in the petition sent to the chief judge.
Justice Abang also denied the allegation that he deliberately held back the record of the proceedings of the trial from the defence team.
The judge, who said he would resist any blackmail, insisted that despite the petition written against him by Etiaba, apparently on Metuh’s instructions, he would continue to hear the case except if the Chief Judge directed otherwise.
He said, “I want to say that I have a circular by my employer, the National Judicial Council, that where there is a petition in a matter seeking the transfer of a case to another judge, that the judge handling the case shall continue to preside over the matter until a decision is taken by the authority that the petition was addressed to.
“On account of this circular, I shall continue to preside over this matter until the honourable Chief Judge of this court takes a decision on Emeka Etiaba’s petition.”
The judge faulted Etiaba for failing to serve the petition on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which is prosecuting the case, so as to enable it to respond to the application.
The judge said Etiaba’s act of serving a letter with respect to a pending case on the Chief Judge without serving it on the other party was a breach of Rule 30(5) of the Rules of Code of Conduct for Legal Practitioners.
The judge said, “The prosecution ought to have been availed with that letter so that they could also be heard before the Chief Judge takes a decision on the petition. It is not only the defence that is entitled to justice.
“The Federal Republic of Nigeria and the defendants are also entitled to justice. Emeka Eitiaba ought to have served a copy of that letter on the prosecution so that they would have the opportunity to react to the view expressed by him.
“There are three grounds in the letter – one: that some of the decisions the court took were given in favour of the prosecution; two: that the court refused to release the record of proceedings. The record of proceedings has been released to the defendants two days ago. It comprises 212 pages.”
Metuh and his company, Destra Investments Limited, who are being prosecuted by the EFCC, were scheduled to open their defence on Thursday.
The accused persons are being prosecuted on seven counts of fraud bordering on the N400m which they allegedly received from the Office of the National Security Adviser as well as money laundering involving cash transaction of $2m.
But responding to a similar question put across to him by the judge, Adedipe, who led the defence on Thursday, said, “Any letter written by any member of the defence counsel is a decision of the defence team.”
The judge subsequently granted Adedipe’s application for adjournment and fixed March 23 for Metuh to open his defence.
The judge noted that the case had already been adjourned three times before Thursday at the instance of the defence.
He warned the defence team to be mindful of section 396(4) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act which he said prohibits parties in a criminal trial from taking more than five adjournments.
An economic retreat convened by the present administration to offer solutions to the current economic challenges facing Nigeria will hold on Monday and Tuesday next week.
The retreat, being put together by the National Economic Council, which has the 36 state governors as members and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo as chairman, will hold in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to a statement on Thursday by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice-President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, President Muhammadu Buhari will deliver the keynote address during the retreat’s opening session on Monday.
President Buhari
Akande said Osinbajo, being the chairman of NEC, which is an advisory body to the President, would preside over the retreat with governors from the 36 states of the federation attending.
Others expected at the meeting, according to the statement, are the Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele; and the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma, among other top government functionaries.
The statement reads, “The objective of the NEC retreat is to provide a forum for in-depth discussions by NEC members of the policy actions that the states and the Federal Government can consider in order to stimulate local production, cut costs and enhance public revenues among other measures to stimulate the economy.
“Contrary to suggestions, the retreat is not an emergency national economic conference.
“The idea was mooted at the last regular NEC meeting in January, where members requested an intensive session to review economic trends and evolve strategies to cope.”
The retreat, which was earlier fixed for March 10 and 11, was later put off to allow for more preparations on the part of the organisers.
Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, had called on the President to summon an emergency economic meeting to chart a course to save the country from further drift.
Soyinka, who made the call when he visited the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in Abuja, had said experts and consumers should be invited to the meeting.
“The President should call an emergency economic conference, with experts to be invited; consumers, producers, labour unions, university experts, professors, etc. I think we really need an emergency economic conference, a rescue operation, bringing as many heads as possible together to plot the way forward,” Soyinka had said.
Meanwhile, Buhari said the current economic crisis, plaguing the nation, was a blessing in disguise.
Buhari said this at the opening ceremony of the International Islamic Conference on Peace and Nation Building in Abuja on Thursday.
The President said through the hardship, Nigerians would be able to come up with ideas that would in turn lead to development.
He said, “The global economic challenges the world is grappling with today might well turn out to be a blessing for us in Nigeria, because it will stimulate the latent economic opportunities that we have left untapped for decades.
“Poverty breeds disaffection, which in turn leads to crime and lawlessness, including confrontation against the state. To checkmate this, we must work hard to lift our economy, engage our youths and rebuild infrastructure.’’
Buhari lamented the level of official corruption in the nation, adding that it led to many years of hardship for Nigerians. He, however, promised to do everything possible to curb the menace.
While declaring the conference open, the President commended the Jama’atu Izalatil Bid’a Wa Iqamatis Sunna and the Muslim World League for the event at a time when the nation was grappling with insecurity.
Buhari, who described Boko Haram as a mindless terrorist organisation, said the Federal Government was winning the fight against insurgency.
He said once the war was over, the government would commission a sociological study to determine the origin, the remote and immediate causes of the movement, its sponsors, its international connections if any, to ensure that measures were taken to prevent a resurgence.
The President added, “The tragic paradox of the global insurgency situation is that most of the atrocities committed by various insurgents all over the world today are being carried out mainly by people who pretend to be Muslims, yet most of the victims and casualties are equally Muslims.
“No religion approves of such heinous crimes against humanity; definitely not Islam or Christianity, the two to which most Nigerians belong.
“Religious leaders must intensify their efforts to send out the real teachings of their religion in order to counter the diabolical ideology that motivates the insurgent elements.”
The Court of Appeal Lagos Division, Friday dismissed an appeal filed by ex beauty queen, Ibinabo Fiberesima challenging a Lagos High Court judgement which sentenced her to serve five years in prison for the death of one Dr. Giwa Suraj.
ibinabo fiberesima
The embattled president of the Actors’ Guild of Nigeria (AGN) was sentenced by Justice Deborah Oluwayemi for reckless driving which caused the death of Suraj in an auto accident along the Lekki-Epe Expressway, Lagos.
He was a staff of a Lagos State hospital.
Dissatisfied, Fiberesima in her amended appellant brief filed by her lawyer, Nnaemeka Amaechina, urged the court to set aside the sentence and restore the decision of the Magistrate Court which sentenced her to a N100, 000 fine.
But, delivering judgment Friday, the appellate court dismissed the appeal and affirmed the High Court’s judgment.
In a unanimous decision delivered by Justice Jamilu Yammama Tukur the court held that the trial Magistrate Court lacked the discretion to grant Ibinabo an option of fine after her conviction.
It held further that the appeal lacked merit and thereby dismissed it accordingly.
Other members of the panel are Justice U.I. Ndukwe-Anyanwu (Mrs.) (presiding) and Justice Tijani Abubakar respectively.
Ibinabo, who was visibly apprehensive throughout the proceeding, burst into tears immediately the judgment was delivered.
The court had, at its last sitting, ordered her to appear before it on judgement day.
Speaking on the judgement, her lawyer, Nnaemeka Amaechina, said it would be challenged at the Supreme Court adding that a Notice of Appeal had been filed already.
The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command had in 2005 charged Fiberesima to an Igbosere Magistrates’ Court on a two-count charge of dangerous and reckless driving along the Lekki- Epe Expressway, Lagos which resulted in the death of Suraj.
She was awarded a N100, 000 fine by the Court, but this decision was tested at the High Court by the Lagos State Government.
At the High Court, Justice Oluwayemi set aside the option of N100, 000 fine imposed and sentenced Fiberesima to five years imprisonment for dangerous and reckless driving.
She held that the trial Magistrate exercised judicial recklessness when he gave the convict an option of N100, 000 fine and this did not serve the purpose of justice.
She subsequently ordered that the N100, 000 should be returned to Fiberesima.
The court added that Section 28 of the Road Traffic Law clearly provides that where a reckless and dangerous driving has caused the death of a person, the accused person shall be guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment of seven years.
Dissatisfied, Fiberesima in her amended appellant brief filed by her lawyer, Nnaemeka Amaechina before the Court of Appeal urged the court to set aside the five year sentence and restore the decision of the Magistrate Court.
Amaechina had argued that the Magistrate’s Court exercised its discretion properly and there was no ground to review it by the high court.
He submitted that by virtue of the Notice of Increased in Jurisdiction of Magistrates, No. 7 of 2006, the trial Magistrate could only impose a maximum of 7 years imprisonment or N100, 000.00 fine.
He added that N100, 000.00 fine is the maximum limit the trial Magistrate can impose as fine and that was what it imposed on the appellant.
In her response, counsel to Lagos State, Rotimi Odutola (Mrs.) argued that the law creating the offence of dangerous driving causing death has provided for a term of imprisonment as punishment for anyone convicted under section 28 hence the trial Magistrate ought not to exercise such arbitrary discretion to impose N100.000.00 as fine.
Odutola further submitted that the children of the deceased have been permanently deprived of the ‘’measureless contributions’’ of their father to their lives as a result of his death caused by the appellant.
ABUJA—The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, yesterday, granted bail to the former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh (retd), to the tune of N2 billion.
Badeh, who has been in detention since February 8, is answering to a 10-count criminal charge preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. He is facing trial over allegation that he fraudulently diverted about N3.9 billion from account of the Nigerian Air Force within 2013.
Trial Justice Okon Abang had on Monday, when the former military chief was docked by the anti-graft agency, ordered that he be remanded in Kuje prison pending the determination of his bail application.
At the resumed sitting, yesterday, Badeh, through his lawyer, Mr. Samuel Zibiri, SAN, begged the court to grant him bail on self recognition or on most liberal terms.
Zibiri anchored the bail request on provisions of Sections 35 and 36 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, as well as Sections 156, 162 and 165 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015. He argued that all the allegations levelled against Badeh were bailable offences.
Despite vehement opposition the EFCC raised against the bail application, trial Justice Abang overruled the agency, saying he was minded to exercise his discretion in favour of the defendant.
The court maintained that under section 36 of the Constitution, the defendant ought to be presumed innocent until his guilt is established. Justice Abang said fears EFCC expressed regarding the possibility of the defendant escaping out of the country once out of detention, was not enough to persuade the court to deny him bail.
“Th e court is enjoined to err on the side of protecting the liberty of the defendant until contrary is proved”, he held. He said EFCC’s allegation that Badeh would jump bail was nothing but “mere speculation,” adding that the Federal Government has the capacity to handle such situation.
Consequently, Justice Abang said he would in view of the amount contained in the charge, grant the defendant bail to the tune of N2 billion with two sureties who are to deposit N1 billion each.
The court ordered that the sureties must not only be residents in Abuja, but must own landed property in the Federal Capital Territory with a valid Certificate of Occupancy.
It said the Chief Registrar of the court must authenticate the ownership and value of the property. Justice Abang directed that upon being put on notice by the defendant, the EFCC should within 24 hours, independently ascertain the residence of the sureties as well as their ownership and value of the landed property.
Besides, the sureties are to provide their three years tax clearance certificates, deposit the original title documents of the property, and also depose to an affidavit of means.
The sureties, according to the court, must also submit their two recent passport photographs, as well as produce a convincing evidence that they have the means to pay the total sum contained in the charge, should the defendant jump bail.
Justice James Tsoho of a Federal High Court in Abuja is on Monday allowed the proposed prosecution witnesses lined up by the Federal Government to testify behind a witness screen against the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra and Director of Radio Biafra, Mr. Nnamdi Kanu.
Nanmdi Kanu, Radio Biafra’s Director
The judge dismissed the objection by Kanu’s lawyer, Mr. Chuks Muoma (SAN), ruling that the request by the Federal Government for its witnesses to testify behind a witness screen did not amount to revisiting the court’s earlier ruling prohibiting the prosecution witnesses from wearing masks.
He upheld the argument of the prosecution led by the Director of Public Prosecutions in the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mohammed Diri, that the screen would only shield the witnesses from the members of the public present in court.
He said the use of the screen would not prevent the judge, the accused persons and lawyers to the parties to see the witnesses while testifying.
A witness screen is a device positioned to shield a witness from seeing the accused in the courtroom.
The court also dismissed the request by Muoma that the court should discharge and acquit its witnesses because the prosecution failed to produce its witnesses to enable the trial to commence on Monday.
The judge ruled that the provision of section 351(1) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 relied on by the defence to ask for the quashing of the charges, did not apply to the circumstances of the case.
According to the judge, the court can only dismiss the charges against an accused person who is present in court when the complainant in the case is not represented in court.
Ibitoye, owner of God’s Grace Nursery and Primary School, located at Fayemi Market, Agric Olope Area, Ajilosun in the state capital city, committed the offence on June 10, 2013.
