Justice Sherifat Solebo of a Lagos Special Offences Court, Ikeja, has issued a bench warrant against Waheed Gabadamosi Eletu Odibo, Yemi Idowu, Aircom Nigeria Limited and STB Building Society for their persistence failure to appear before the court.
Justice Solebo made the order granting an application argued by the counsel to the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Ahmed Yerima that the court should issue bench warrant again them.
The defendants had refused to appear before the court to take their plea in a charge filed against them EFCC.
Moving his application, Yerima prayed the court to issue the warrant based on the order of another court, which ordered that the commission did not breach any fundamental human right of the defendants.
My lord, another court where the defendants filed a case of breach of fundamental human right against the Commission had ordered the defendants to appear before this court to face the charges against them and no right was breached by the Commission
“But as my lord can see, they are not in court, disobeying that order. In that circumstance, I would be asking for a bench warrant against all the defendants,” he prayed.
The trial judge therefore granted EFCC’s application and issued the warrant against all the defendants.
The defendants are facing eight counts charge bothering on stealing, obtaining money under false pretence, which are contrary to section 278(1),(5)(a), 285(1)(b) 390, 390(1) and 419 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria 2011 and Criminal Code Law of Lagos State of Nigeria 2003, respectively.
The defendants were said to have sometime in 2013 within the Ikeja judicial division, dishonestly converted for their own use, three plots of land measuring 254,588 hectares, situated at Crystal Road, Osapa Village, Eti-Osa Local Government Area, Lagos, property of Onononyi Patrick Okonkwo.
They were also alleged to have dishonestly converted for their use 1 plot of land, measuring about 669,572 square meters, situated at Crystal Road, Osapa Village, Eti-Osa Local Government Area, Lagos, property of Uchenna Temple Anazodo.
