- Evans is seeking a court order directing
the IGP and three others to immediately
charge him to court if they have a case
against him
- His lawyer argues that the respondents
were contravening the constitution by his
continued detention without trial
- The suit is yet to be assigned to any judge
and a trial date has not yet been fixed
Another interesting twist has emerged in
the unfolding saga of the notorious
billionaire kidnapper Chukwudumeme
Onwuamadike a.k.a. Evans.
Just when Nigerians thought no lawyer
will step out to defend Evans, Voice
Olukoya Ogungbeje has proven an
exception, NAN reports.
Ogungbeje, who heads Lawflex Chambers
and is the Chairman of Voice Vanguard,
grabbed the headlines on Wednesday
when he filed a fundamental rights suit
on behalf of Evans, dragging the
Inspector General of Police, and three
others before a Federal High Court in
Lagos over Evans alleged illegal
detention.
Joined as respondents are the Nigeria
Police Force, Commissioner of Police
Lagos State, and the Special Anti-Robbery
Squad, Lagos State Police Command.
In his fundamental rights suit, the
confessed kidnapper is seeking a court
order directing the respondents to
immediately charge him to court if there
is any case against him.
He is in the alternative, seeking an order,
compelling the respondents to
immediately release him unconditionally
in the absence of any offence warranting
a charged.
Voice Olukoya Ogungbeje, the lawyer representing
Evans'
In the suit marked, FHC/L/CS/1012/2017,
Evans is contending that his continued
detention by the respondents since June
10, without a charge, or release on bail is
an infringement on his fundamental
rights.
He argued that the respondents ought to
have charged him to court in accordance
with the provisions of Sections 35 and 36
of the Constitution.
It was further argued that the alleged
offence committed by the applicant
(Evans) are correspondingly intertwined
with the constitutional safeguards as
provided under Sections 35 and 36 of the
Constitution.
In a 27-paragraph affidavit in support of
the motion deposed to by Evan’s father,
Stephen Onwuamadike, it was averred
that the applicant has been subjected to
media trial without any court’s order by
the respondents.
Onwuamadike further averred that the
media trial and news orchestrated by the
respondents have continued to generate
reactions in both print and electronic
media without his son being afforded fair
hearing before a court of law.
The deponent also averred that since his
son’s arrest, all his family members have
been denied access to him while media
practitioners have been granted
unfettered access to him.
The new suit has not been assigned to
any judge and no date has been fixed for
the hearing.
Evans lawyer, who identified himself on
Facebook as Voice Olukoya Ogungbeje
had been involved in controversial cases
in recent times.
In April, he filed a suit asking the Federal
High Court to stay proceedings on the
forfeiture of $43,449,947 (about N13bn),
N23,218,000 and £27,800 (about N10.6m)
found in a flat in Ikoyi, Lagos.
He also sought an order directing the
Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission to furnish the court with a
report of its preliminary or final
investigation on the source of the money,
its owner, and how the currencies got
into the building.
Ogungbeje, in a motion on notice asked
the court not to order a permanent
forfeiture of the money since there are
claims and counter claims as to its
ownership by the Rivers State
government and the National Intelligence
Agency and since the Federal
Government had set up the Osinbajo
panel to find the truth about the
ownership of the money.
“This honourable court has the inherent
jurisdiction under Section 6 (6)(b) of the
Constitution to order and direct thorough
investigation on the sources of the
monies, their owners, the owners of the
Osborne Towers where the monies were
found and how they got into the
building", the motion read.
The case did not get anywhere as the
money was later permanently forfeited to
the Federal Government.
Ogungbeje also once filed a suit in Lagos
in 2014 asking for the reinstatement of
Murtala Nyako as governor of Adamawa
state. This was after Nyako was
impeached by the state assembly in July
of the same year and the speaker of the
state assembly had taken over.
Again, the case hit the rocks.
Ogungbeje claimed the Assembly’s
alleged failure to serve Nyako personally
with the impeachment notice violated his
fundamental right to fair hearing as
enshrined under Section 36 of the 1999
Constitution.
After the court heard arguments from
parties and judgment date fixed, Fintiri,
through his lawyer, Chief Wole
Olanipekun (SAN) urged the judge not to
deliver the verdict.
The former Nigerian Bar Association
(NBA) president prayed the court to set
aside all the proceedings conducted in
the suit so far because his clients were
not served with the suit in accordance
with the law.
According to him, the court should strike
out the entire action since the due
process of law was not followed.
Olanipekun, who was also representing
Mammadi and the House of Assembly,
argued that the originating processes
were not properly served on his clients.
Recall that NAIJ.com had previously
reported that suspected billionaire
kidnapper, Chukwudumeme
Onwuamadike a.k.a. Evans has dragged
the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim
Idris and three others before the Federal
High Court in Lagos over alleged illegal
detention.
As respondents in the motion he filed by
his lawyers are the Nigeria Police Force,
Commissioner of Police, Lagos state and
the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Lagos
State Police Command. Source: naij.com
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