Alleged unlawful eviction: Court adjourns arraignment of property developer, Lawyer Victor Giwa appears in court..
Alleged unlawful eviction: Court adjourns arraignment of property developer and 2 others for
Arraignment
By Edith Nwapi
Abuja, July 17, 2024 (NAN) The FCT High Court on Wednesday adjourned until Oct. 28, the arraignment of a Property Developer, Cecil Osakwe, Victor Giwa and one other in the alleged unlawful eviction and criminal intimidation and threat to life of Ms Asabe Waziri.
The Attorney-General of the Federation’s office charged Osakwe alonside Victor Giwa, a lawyer and one other with unlawful eviction and criminal intimidation but Osakwe was absent in court however, Giwa appeared in court after the presiding judge threatened to issue a bench warrant if he did not show up in court on the last date.
Justice Samira Bature, adjourned the matter after Chika Ojukwu , SAN counsel to Osakwe’s prayer.
Ojukwu had informed the court that his client was in UK and only got wind of the suit through a phone call that a service was pasted on his Nigerian residence.
He told the court that his client was willing to come to court and defend himself against the criminal charge filed against him by the Federal government.
He therefore applied for adjournment to a later date to enable his client appear in court.
The prosecution counsel, Matthew Una, did not oppose the application for adjournment.
He prayed the court that some of the property of the nominal complainant, Waziri should be released to her as some of the items were perishable.
This oral application was opposed by Ojukwu, saying the proper thing to do since the matter is a criminal case is for the applicant to invoke a civil procedure. However, the prosecutor countered that the container and the goods have been in the custody of the defendants since 2022 and are exhibits in the criminal case.
The trial judge after listening to both parties urged the applicant to provide a written application for consideration.
Justice Bature subsequently adjourned until Oct. 28 for arraignment.
At Tuesday’s proceedings, the court had threatened to issue a bench warrant against the 2nd defendant, Victor Giwa for failing to appear in court.
The federal government charged Osakwe, Giwa and one other with unlawful eviction and criminal intimidation and threat to life and damage to property to the tune of N300 million.