Justice Mojisola Dada of a Lagos Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja has fixed October 15, for continuation of the trial of Muritala Adebayo, who allegedly defrauded his son-in-law of N4.5 million.
The judge fixed the date after the prosecuting counsel, Mr Ridwon Abdurasheed, who held brief for Mr Babangida Isah, informed the court that his witness was not in court because he went for an official assignment.
But in a swift reaction, the nominal complainant, Mr Gafar Ademolake, asked the court to reject the prosecuting counsel’s plea. Ademolake, who raised up his hands in the court to address the court, said: “My lord, I am the nominal complainant in this case but I do not understand what is happening again. The prosecutor told me to bring my wife as a witness, which I did.
“My lord, I brought my wife to be a witness today but the prosecution is saying no, and she brought a nine-day old baby to court today to give evidence.”
Consequently, Justice Dada said she did not understand how the prosecution was handling the case. Responding, Abdulrasheed said he asked for an adjournment because the counsel on this case, Babangida Isah, was on leave and that he was not aware that the nominal complaint’s wife was called to be a witness.
However, the defendant’s counsel, Mr Oluwatosin Ojo, opposed the application of the prosecution, submitting that the court had adjourned the matter once at the instance of the prosecution.
“We opposed this application my lord because this is the second time they are asking for an adjournment. This has been an instance of persecution but we leave it at the discretion of the court.”
After hearing from parties, the judge adjourned till October 15, for continuation of trial. Ademolake had, on April 16, told the court how his 72-year-old father-in-law, Adebayo (alias Oloriebi of Ajah) defrauded him of three cars and several millions of naira on the pretext of procuring some piece of land for him.
Consequently, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned the defendant on a three-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false pretense.
