Lawyer, Others Avoid Court — Justice Bature Threatens Arrest, Adjourns To Feb 17 Over Alleged Unlawful Eviction
The Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja, on Monday, adjourned the arraignment of a lawyer and two others in connection with the alleged unlawful eviction, criminal intimidation, and threat to the life of one Ms. Asabe Waziri to February 17.
Justice Samira Bature adjourned the matter following the absence of two of the accused persons in the charge.
In the charge marked CR/222/2023, instituted by the Federal Government, a property developer – Cecil Osakwe, a legal practitioner -Victor Giwa, and Edith Erhunmuuse, are to be arraigned on a nine-count charge.
Count one alleges that the three defendants, “Sometime in 2022, in Abuja, Nigeria, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired and broke into the house of one Ms Asabe Waziri, located at Mekong Street, Maitama, Abuja, with the assistance of some police officers now at large, without her knowledge or consent, and carted away her entire property worth N300,000,000 (Three Hundred Million Naira), including her international passport and cash.”
The charge states that the defendants thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 96 of the Penal Code Law and punishable under Section 97 of the same law.
Count two alleges that the defendants “conspired and agreed to take the law into their own hands by unlawfully breaking into the house of Ms Asabe Waziri, with the assistance of some police officers now at large, without an enforcement order of the relevant court, and destroyed her door and other property worth N300,000,000 (Three Hundred Million Naira).”
At a previous sitting, the court had threatened to issue an arrest warrant against the second defendant, Giwa, for failing to appear for arraignment.
At Monday’s resumed hearing, the arraignment was again postponed for the fourth time because the first (Osakwe) and second (Giwa) defendants were absent. However, the third defendant (Erhunmuuse) was present in court without legal representation.
The prosecution counsel, M. O. Una, expressed frustration over the repeated adjournments. He noted that the defendants’ counsel had sent yet another letter seeking an adjournment, describing the development as unfortunate given the history of the case.
Una, argued that the persistent non-appearance of the defendants clearly showed they were avoiding arraignment.
“My Lord, since the matter was transferred to this court, the defendants have been seeking adjournments, and the court has been magnanimously granting them,” he said.
He pointed out that since the defendants’ counsel’s firm has multiple lawyers, representation should not be difficult.
The prosecution also refuted claims by Giwa’s law firm that the parties were working toward a settlement, noting that the nominal complainant was present in court and could attest to the contrary.
Una urged the court to compel the absent accused persons to appear before it.
Justice Bature, in response, threatened to issue an arrest warrant against Giwa and Osakwe over their repeated failure to appear for arraignment.
In a brief ruling, Justice Bature adjourned the matter until February 17 for arraignment. She warned that if the first and second defendants failed to appear on that date—a date suggested by them—the court would have no option but to grant the prosecution’s request to compel their appearance.
