Justice Samira Bature of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), sitting at Maitama, Abuja, on Thursday, issued a fresh bench warrant against a policewoman, Inspector Edith Erhunwuse, over her continued absence in court in a case bordering on alleged N300 million criminal eviction and property damage.
Erhunwuse is the third defendant in the case, marked FCT/HC/CR/222/2023, brought against her, a property developer; Cecil Osakwe; and an Abuja-based lawyer, Victor Giwa, by the Federal Government, bordering on criminal conduct, including forceful eviction of occupants of an Abuja property and destruction of the said property estimated at N300 million.
The defendants were accused, among others, to have sometimes in 2022 conspired to unlawfully break into the residence of Ms. Asabe Waziri at Mekong Street, Maitama, Abuja, carting away her belongings, including her passport and cash, without her consent.
The alleged offences committed by the defendants are said to be contrary to Sections 96, 97, and 327 of the Penal Code Law.
At the resumed hearing in the case today, the prosecuting counsel, Aderonke Imana, informed the court of Erhunwuse’s absence from proceedings, adding that the court had on April 24 issued a bench warrant against her (Erhunwuse).
The prosecutor added that letters were sent to the FCT Commissioner of Police, but despite that, the third defendant had not been coming to court even when it was said that the Inspector-General of Police had directed that she appear in court.
While citing Section 353 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, the prosecutor urged the court to issue another warrant against Erhunwuse.
Imana submitted that in the situation where a defendant was properly served court processes and failed to appear before the court without a reasonable excuse, the court was empowered to order the arrest of such a defendant.
According to her, the policewoman had ignored court processes for over a year, while other defendants had continued to attend proceedings.
While ruling on the prosecution’s application, Justice Bature expressed concern that two months after the court issued its earlier bench warrant order, no progress had been made in the matter.
She noted that the FCT High Court would soon proceed on its annual vacation, saying that this could further delay the matter.
She, therefore, granted the application and ordered all security agencies to arrest Inspector Erhunwuse wherever they found her with a view to bringing her before the court.
This, the judge held, is in pursuant to Section 352 of the ACJA, 2015.
According to her, the third defendant had not only been showing disobedience but also disrespect to the court.
“The court hereby issues a bench warrant to all law enforcement agencies for the arrest of the third defendant, wherever she may be found, for showing disobedience and disrespect to this court,” the judge ruled.
She then encouraged parties to continue exploring an out-of-court settlement, directing them to report back on the outcome at the next adjourned date.
The court subsequently adjourned the case to September 29 for continuation of trial, with the warning that it would not tolerate any further excuses for non-appearance.
At the last sitting in the matter on April 29, both Osakwe and Giwa had expressed their intention to adopt alternative dispute resolution with a view to settling with the nominal complainant in the case.
Counsel for Osakwe, Ahmed Raji, SAN, told the court that he was interviewing in the matter in order to settle it amicably out of court.
The senior advocate informed the court that parties had been meeting and what remained was for parties to agree to terms of settlement with the nominal complaint.
The post “Disobedience And Disrespect To Court” — Court Issues Fresh Bench Warrant Against Policewoman In Alleged N300m Eviction, Property Damage Case appeared first on TheNigeriaLawyer.
