By Advocatenewsng.com
A Federal High Court, sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, today issued an arrest warrant on a former staff of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Emeka Njoku, for absenting himself for the third consecutive time without cogent excuse, in an ongoing trial in which he is being probed along with four others over their alleged fraudulent transaction in forex deals in which a customer of the bank, Chief Nnamdi Vincent Ezenwa lost over $950,000.
With this order of court, Njoku is to be arrested and produced in court on the next adjourned date, June 26, 2025 if he fails to appear voluntarily.
When the matter was called this morning at the court sitting before Justice Dehinde Dipeolu, the prosecuting counsel, Jackson, announced that the matter is for continuation of trial, and that he was ready to call his prosecution witness who came in from Aba, Abia State yesterday because of today’s trial proceedings.
But the judge reminded him of the absence of the third defendant, which in the principle of fair hearing, one cannot proceed on trial with a witness against an accused person in his absence.
The prosecuting counsel then applied to the court to issue a bench warrant against the third defendant, Emeka Njoku, to compel him to attend to his trial, adding that unless the court takes a drastic measure on this unwilling defendant, he would not see the seriousness of his criminal trial.
His words: “My lord, in this circumstance that we cannot proceed again today as a result of the absence of the third defendant who was also absent at the last adjourned date in March, we are urging the court to issue a bench warrant to compel the defendant to come to court to face his trial. This is a criminal offence. The law is that in a criminal trial the defendant ought to be in court to face his trial.
“We are therefore applying in the interest of justice for a bench warrant and also asking for cost, for it is very expensive and costly to bring a witness all the way from Aba, Abia State to Lagos in vain because of the absence an accused person repeatedly. We are asking for an award of N200,000 as cost.”
Though the counsel to the other defendants opposed the issue of a bench warrant and the award of cost, Justice Dipeolu was well persuaded by the prosecution to issue the bench warrant and award cost against the third defendant to deter him from evading court proceedings in his trial.
Consequently in his ruling, he handed down the bench warrant on Emeka Njoku and also asked him to pay the sum of N300,000 as cost for being absent in court.
A five-count charge was slammed against the suspects by the Inspector General of Police, and filed on his behalf by a Deputy Commissioner of Police, (DCP), Simon Lough, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, from the Legal/Prosecuting Section of the Police Force Headquarters, Louis Edet House, Abuja.
They were allegedly to have deceitfully collected N294,150,000 from Chief Nnamdi Vincent Ezenwa, which is the equivalent of $1,850,000, through his bank account domiciled with UBA, and fraudulently transferred $900,000 only to his Italian customers, the equivalent of N143,100,000, and converted $950,000, equivalent to N151,050,000 to their use, thereby committing the offence contrary to Section 1(1), and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advanced Fee Fraud and other Related Offences Act, 2006.
At the court session holding at Ikoyi, Lagos, before Justice Dipeolu, the suspects pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to them last year informing them that: You, Chibueze Ojeh, ‘M’, 40 years; Obinna Nwosu, ‘M’, 45 years; Emeka Njoku, ‘M’ 41 years, Castle Equipment & Logistics Ltd; and United Bank for Africa, UBA,Plc; Onyinyechi Oraegbunem, ‘F’, and Pamela Onaga, ‘F’, now at large, are charged with a five-count charge of obtaining money by false pretence.
One the the charges reads: That you Chibueze Ojeh, ‘M’, 40 years, MD/CEO of Castle Equipment & Logistics Ltd of Lekki County Homes, Westend Estate Road 4, House 4, Lekki, Lagos State; Obinna Nwosu, ‘M’, 45 years of No. 1 Shofidiya Close, Adegoke Estate, Masha Roundabout, Surulere, Lagos; Emeka Njoku, ‘M’, 41 years, former staff and marketer with UBA Plc, of No. 3 Azikiwe Road, Port Harcourt; Castle Equipment & Logistics Limited and United Bank for Africa Plc; Onyinyechi Oraegbunem, ‘F’, former branch manager of UBA, Aba branch and Pamela Onaga,’F’, (now at large), former staff of UBA, Aba branch/account officer to Chief Nnamdi Vincent Ezenwa, between 3rd April, 2013 and 30th June, 2013 in Lagos and Aba within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, while acting in concert and with intent to defraud Chief Nnamdi Vincent Ezenwa, MD/CEO of Vinna Investment Limited deceitfully induced Chief Nnamdi Vincent Ezenwa that you have dollars to sell to him at a lower rate of N159 per dollar and deceitfully collected a total sum of N294,150,000 equivalent to$1,850,000 from him on the pretence that you will transfer the dollars equivalent to his customers in Italy. But having collected the total sum of N294,150,000, you transferred only $900,000, equivalent to N143,100,000 and converted $950,000, equivalent to N151, 050,000 to your use, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section1(1) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advanced Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006.
