The Nigerian police on Wednesday arraigned two legal professionals on forgery and impersonation costs on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Excessive Court docket in Apo, Abuja.
Trial choose Jude Onwuegbuzie granted the primary defendant, Victor Giwa, bail on stringent phrases and circumstances, however denied bail to the second defendant, Bukola Ibitade, a nursing mom.
The courtroom rejected Ms Ibitade’s request on the grounds of the defence lawyer’s failure to incorporate her identify within the formal bail utility.
The defence made futile efforts to influence the choose to permit an oral modification to accommodate Ms Ibitade within the bail utility.
The police had charged the defendants with three counts, together with forgery of a letter on the purported letterhead of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Awa Kalu.
In response to the indictment, Mr Giwa allegedly cast the letter purportedly interesting to the Lawyer-Normal of the Federation (AGF) to cease his arraignment earlier than Choose Samira Bature for an earlier case on 2 July 2024.
The solid letter was allegedly titled, ‘Pressing and Solemn Attraction to Droop the Arraignment of Our Colleague Victor Giwa on Cost Quantity: CR/222/2023’.
The police alleged that the forgery was carried out “with the intention of inflicting it to be believed that such a doc was made, signed and sealed by the authority of the mentioned letterhead.”
The indictment additionally charged each defendants with unlawful eviction, legal intimidation, menace to life, and property harm amounting to N300 million.
The police accused them of committing the offences on 28 June 2024.
However each pleaded not responsible to the costs.
Bail circumstances
Arguing for the defendants’ bail, defence counsel, Edwin Anikpenu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), cited their standing as authorized practitioners and the second defendant’s standing as a nursing mom.
To appropriate Ms Ibitade’s exclusion from the bail request, Mr Anikpenu pleaded with the courtroom to permit an oral request to incorporate her within the bail utility.
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Responding, the prosecution lawyer, Asaph Eristo, citing the defendants’ absence from earlier proceedings, maintained that Mr Giwa posed a flight threat. He urged the courtroom to remand him in custody to stop him from interfering with investigations.
Following the arguments, the choose reprimanded the defence for making an attempt to request Ms Ibitade’s bail orally, as a substitute of submitting a correct written utility.
“It’s stunning {that a} lawyer, a senior advocate, would come by means of an oral utility and try so as to add one other defendant with out documentation. With 13 legal professionals current, none deemed it match to file a correct bail utility,” the choose mentioned.
In his ruling, the choose denied Ms Ibitade bail and remanded her within the correctional facility in Suleja.
Nonetheless, the choose granted Mr Giwa bail within the sum of N30 million and directed him to current two grade degree 16 civil servants which are resident in Abuja as sureties.
He added that the safety guards should submit their passports, whereas ordering Mr Giwa to stay in custody till he met his bail circumstances.
He adjourned the case till 15 October.
