CRIME & PUNISHMENT

After Second Conviction, Kidnapper Don Evans Opts for Plea Bargain

Funke Olaode

In his hay days, he was a Lord to himself. His larger-than-life image was lived under the radar without any traces of opulence in what you will describe in local parlance as ‘coded’. But when the hand of law caught up with him, his life of criminality was exposed, and it was discovered that he was a billionaire. Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, popularly known as Evans, is a convicted Nigerian kidnapper who is sometimes referred to as the ‘billionaire kidnapper’ because he is believed to be one of the richest criminals in the kidnapping activities in Nigeria. In some of his operations, he made up to $1 million. He would later undergo trial on 52 charges of multiple murders, armed robberies, kidnappings, unlawful possession of firearms, unlawful possession of ammunition, and conspiracy, among other charges. Specifically, he was charged with the unlawful capture of Uche Okereafor in the Festac area of Lagos on November 21, 2017, and demanded a ransom of $2 million. This contravened sections 409 and 269 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2011. On Friday, February 25, 2022, the Lagos High Court found Evans and two others guilty of kidnapping and conspiracy. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Last week Thursday, the billionaire kidnapper was back in court with his co-defendant Joseph Emeka. Both were to be re-arraigned on a five-count amended charge bordering on murder, conspiracy to commit felony to wit: kidnapping and attempt to murder. However, the case was stalled due to the absence of his counsel.

The state lead counsel, Mr Yusuf Sule, informed the court that the defendants had applied for a plea bargain option when the case was called for re-arraignment.

Justice Adenike Cokers adjourned the case until June 13 for re-arraignment.

The judge also directed Evans to ensure the availability of his counsel in court.

“In view of the absence of the first defence counsel, this case is hereby adjourned until June 13, and the first defendant is directed to ensure his counsel is in court. There is no excuse for his absence. In the light of the amendment charge before the court, the third and the fourth defendants are struck out,” Cokers said.

The re-arraignment, however, could not take place due to the absence of Evan’s counsel.

Sule then told the court that the defence counsel was aware of the re-arraignment and that the second defence counsel, Mr Nelson Onyejaka, was in court.

He told the court that he spoke with Evans’ lawyer, who resided in Abuja, about the case but did not know why he was not in court.

He stated, “Although I am aware that the defendants have applied  for plea bargain but it is being considered by the attorney general. We have  an amended charge my lord because the fourth defendant has been convicted while the third defendant died in prison. We shall be asking for another date for the re-arraignment of the two defendants.”

Mr Nelson Onyejaka, who came in a few minutes after the case was called, announced his appearance for the second defendant, Emeka.

Will the court accept his plea bargain?

Court Dismisses Oboden Ibru’s Suit Challenging Transfer of Father’s Shares

Wale Igbintade

The Lagos Division of Federal High Court has dismissed a suit filed by Oboden Ibru, one of the sons of Chief Olorogun Michael Ibru, challenging the transfer of 999.999 ordinary shares belonging to his late father in Oteri Holdings Limited to Braze Limited and Urbieje Investment Limited respectively.

Delivering judgment in the suit marked FHC/L/CS/676/2017 filed by Oboden against Oteri Holdings Limited and six others, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke held that the judgment the plaintiff (Oboden) based his case on has been set aside by the Court of Appeal.

The first to seventh defendants in the suit are Oteri Holdings Limited, Braze Limited, Urbieje Investment Limited, Olorogun Oskar Ibru, Peter Ibru, Mr Emmanuel Ibru, and the Corporate Affairs Commission.

The plaintiff had urged the court to determine whether Olorogun Michael Ibru’s purported transfer of his 999.999 ordinary shares in the first defendant to the second and third defendants is invalid and of no effect whatsoever in view of and by virtue of Justice John Tsoho’s judgment delivered on April 17, 2014, in suit number FHC/L/CS/981/06.

He also prayed the court to determine whether, in view of Justice Tsoho’s judgment, the fourth to the sixth defendants (Olorogun Oskar Ibru, Peter Ibru, and Emmanuel Ibru) being members and directors of the second and third defendants are in that capacity still entitled to exercise any right, powers or duties over the management, governance and control of Oteri Holdings Limited.

Consequently, he urged the court to declare Olorogun Michael Ibru’s purported transfer of his 999.999 ordinary shares in the 1st defendant to the 2nd and 3rd defendants invalid and of no effect whatsoever, in view of and by virtue of the judgment delivered by Tsoho.

But, the first to sixth defendants, in their counter-affidavit of 30 paragraphs deposed to by the fifth defendant, stated that contrary to paragraph four of the affidavit in support of the plaintiff’s originating summons, the suit instituted by the 1st defendant in suit number FHC/L/CS/981/06 was not in relation to the ownership of the shares of the first defendant but the wrongful transfer of his shares in Aero Contractors Company Nigeria to Mofta West Africa Ltd, a company owned by the plaintiff.

Contrary to paragraph six of the affidavit in support of the plaintiff’s originating summons, Justice Tsoho’s entire judgment, delivered on April 17, 2014, is now the subject of appeal in CA/L/661/14. They further stated that the late Olorogun Michael Ibru, having divested himself of his majority shares in the 1st defendant company and transferred them to the second and third defendants since 1988, the fourth, fifth, and sixth Defendants have been managing the businesses of the 1st defendant and its subsidiaries since 1988 to the knowledge of the plaintiff.

They stated that the issue submitted for adjudication by the first defendant before Justice Tsoho was whether the first defendant was entitled to treat as null and void the purported transfer of its shares in Aero Contractors Company Nigeria Limited, to the plaintiff’s company, Mofta West Africa Ltd, and not the ownership or shareholdings of the second and third defendants in the first defendant company.

However, in his judgment, Justice Aneke said, “The truth of the matter is that the judgment of this court in Exhibit P1 in suit number FHC/L/CS/981/06 per Hon. Justice J.T. Tsoho relied upon by the plaintiff in the instant suit did not grant anything. It merely dismissed the application of Oteri Holdings Ltd. As a matter of fact, with the Court of Appeal granting all the reliefs claimed by the applicant in Exhibit P1, the plaintiff’s case in the instant suit has collapsed.

“This is so because Exhibit P1, on which the plaintiff based his case, has been set aside by the Court of Appeal. The plaintiff’s case, therefore, must be dismissed and is hereby dismissed. Cost of N250,000.00 is granted in favour of the 1st to sixth defendants.”

Painter Who Raped Girl Because He ‘Likes’ Her Handed Life Imprisonment

Funke Olaode

The Ikeja Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court has on Tuesday sentenced a painter, Sikiru Oluwasegun, to life imprisonment for raping a 20-year-old lady.

Justice Rahman Oshodi found the defendant, Oluwasegun, guilty of raping a lady (name withheld) without her consent on July 19, 2021, at 3:45 a.m. in Ikorodu.

Oshodi sentenced the defendant after he resolved the issue for determination in favour of the prosecution, who tendered the defendant’s confessional statement as evidence.

He found Oluwasegun’s confessional statement given to the police in which the defendant admitted to raping the survivor to “meet the criteria of the supreme court and is direct, positive and unequivocal” in establishing that he committed the offence.

The judge said, “The defendant, in his confessional statement, admitted to making his way into the room of the prosecutrix (name withheld) and raped her because he liked her, but he could not tell her as she was new to the compound.”

Oshodi said the accused was a painter who lived in the same building as the victim, a Lagos State Polytechnic student, also known as the Lagos State University of Science and Technology (LASUSTECH), Ikorodu.

He said the victim reported the incident to the LASUSTECH student union the next day, and they got the police to arrest the defendant.

The judge said the defendant wrote a voluntary statement admitting to the offence in front of the Investigating Police Officer (IPO), who also visited the scene of the incident.

“Aside from the confessional statement, the evidence shows the defendant had the opportunity to commit the offence,” the judge added.

Oshodi convicted Oluwasegun of rape contrary to Section 260 of the Criminal Law, Laws of Lagos State 2015.

When the judge asked the convict if he had anything to say before his sentencing, he asked the judge to have mercy on him.

The prosecutor, Inumidun Solarin, however, told the court to sentence the defendant to life imprisonment according to the law and to order that his name be registered in the Lagos State sex offenders register.

During sentencing, Oshodi said, “Your actions show a callous disregard for the victim’s fundamental human rights. I have considered the factors applied in your confessional statement that you were attracted to the victim but could not express your interest correctly because she was a new tenant. Being attracted to someone does not give you the right to force yourself on them. There is no justification for rape.”

Oshodi sentenced him to life imprisonment and ordered him to be returned to prison, where he would spend the rest of his sentence.

LASTMA Officers Narrate to Court How Hoodlums Murdered Colleague

Funke Olaode

The Ikeja Division of the Lagos High Court has been told how an officer of a Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) officer was allegedly killed by hoodlums on March 16, 2021, during the peak of the  COVID-19 pandemic.

The prosecution witness, two LASTMA officers, Adeoye Olayinka and Salam Olajide, gave evidence in an ongoing trial of five drivers of Suzuki Mini Commercial (popularly known as korope) over the murder of Godwin Obasu.

The defendants are Babalola Femi, Ayodele Yusuf, Oyeniyi Ayomide, Ridwan Ramon and Waris Yusuf.

The Lagos government had charged the defendants with offences bordering on murder, assault and grievous bodily harm.

They were also accused of assaulting another officer, Adeniyi Hakeem, Salam Olajide and others, in the Anthony area.

The defendants were said to have assisted a commercial ‘korope’ driver who was their colleague and used machetes and other dangerous weapons on the LASTMA officers, which later led to the death of Obasu.

Obasu and Hakeem were allegedly attacked with machetes and other dangerous weapons by the driver of a commercial bus with registration number FKJ 452 YC, plying Bariga to Oshodi via the Ikorodu Road axis, after they said his vehicle was apprehended for contravening the traffic law.

The two officers attacked were on their way home, having completed their morning shift and had changed to mufti before the commercial bus drivers went berserk and attacked the officers for carrying out their statutory duties.

Obazu was said to have been struck severally with machetes, resulting in deep lacerations on the head and his eventual death, while Hakeem, who was also attacked in a similar manner, was in a coma.

However, the prosecution witnesses (Olayinka and Olamide), in their testimony before Justice Hakeem Oshodi, narrated how hoodlums allegedly killed their colleague.

“It was about 15 minutes after, I heard a gunshot and that gave me confidence that our backup has arrived. So we rushed outside, and we saw the late Obasu in the pool of his blood,” they said. “We rushed him to our clinic in Oshodi and later to the Bagada General Hospital, but the case could not be handled that night. Two days later, he died.”

Olajide also told the court how his money (N59,000) was withdrawn via his bank accounts when his phone was stolen.  

Justice Oshodi subsequently adjourned further hearing until September 30, 2024.

Alleged N1.5bn Fraud: Detained Accountant Asks Court to Lift Freezing Order

Wale Igbintade

A chartered accountant, Ms. Omafume Augustina Ayinuola, has asked a federal high court in Lagos to lift the freezing order placed by the police on her bank account over alleged fraud. 

Omafume and her mother, Lydia Abosede Erhievuyere, are facing trial before the court for the alleged theft of N1.5 billion belonging to Mr Peter Ololo’s company.

When the case came up for hearing last Thursday, counsel to the defendants, Olubusola Ashiru, told the court that the business of the day was the hearing of the defendants’ lock police and the nominal complainant, Peter Ololo, the alter ego of the Group of Companies.

After arguments between the prosecutor, Mr. Morufu Animasaun and the defence counsel, Olubusola Ashiru, on the propriety or otherwise of the application, Justice Ogundare ordered Ashiru to move the application.

While moving his application, Ashiru urged the court to grant an order lifting the lien placed on the defendants’ accounts, or, in other words, unfreeze the various bank accounts that the police had frozen or placed ‘post no debit’.

Ashiru also sought an order of the court directing the prosecutor to release all the defendants’ property and to direct that the nominal complainant, Peter Ololo, “the estranged lover,” take the properties from the defendants.

Ashiru said that while the matter was pending before Justice Ogundare, the prosecutor went to another court to obtain an order to freeze the accounts and place liens on the defendants’ properties.

However, in his 19-paragraph counter affidavit filed in opposition to the defendant’s motion, the prosecutor urged the court to dismiss the motion.

Morufu Animasahun, while moving the counter-affidavit, urged the court to dismiss the application and ordered an accelerated hearing.

He said the essence of the freezing order obtained by the prosecution from Justice Ibrahim Ahmad Kala’s court is to preserve the Res as there are persistent intelligence reports that the defendants, through third parties, are trying to dissipate the assets bought with the alleged proceeds of crime.

After hearing the parties, the trial judge, Justice Kehinde Ogundare, adjourned the case until July 11 to rule on the defendant’s motion and for a definite trial.