The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Abuja, on Monday, issued a bench warrant for the arrest of two lawyers over their failure to appear for their scheduled arraignment.
The two lawyers – Victor Giwa and Ibitade Bukola – were charged by the police with three counts of forgery and impersonation.
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Judge Jude Onwuegbuzie issued the bench warrant following the defendants’ absence from court on Monday.
Mr Giwa was earlier absent from the earlier scheduled arraignment in May, citing the death of two of his sisters.
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On Monday, defence lawyer, Ogbu Aboje, informed the court that his clients were absent due to medical reasons.
Mr Giwa submitted a letter, stating that he had degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine and a hypertensive condition.
Meanwhile, the second defendant, Ms Bukola’s excuse, was about her daughter for an immunisation appointment.
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Mr Aboje apologised to the court for the absence of the defendants. He also asked the court to invoke its power under Section 266(b) of the Administration of the Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, to excuse the absence of his clients in view of their application challenging the jurisdiction of the court.
The prosecution lawyer, Eristo Asaph, opposed Mr Giwa’s letter. He appealed to the judge to issue a bench warrant for arrest of the defendants, noting that the ailment could easily be managed.
Mr Asaph also stated that the case is a criminal matter and that section 396(2) of the ACJA, 2015, is clear “that until arraignment is taken, the defendants cannot raise an issue of preliminary objection.”
The judge agreed with the submission of Mr Asaph that arraignment is the first step in a criminal case.
He then ruled that, “Though there is a medical report, it does not state that he (Mr Giwa) cannot come to court.” For the second defendant, the judge said “no medical report to show she has a medical appointment. Bench warrant is therefore issued.”
He rescheduled their arraignment to 8 October.
Charges
In the case, the police charged the defendants with three counts, including forgery of a letter on the letterhead of one Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Awa Kalu.
Mr Giwa allegedly forged the letter which purportedly appealed to the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) to halt Mr Giwa’s arraignment for an earlier case including charges of alleged illegal eviction, criminal intimidation, threat to life, and property damage amounting to N300 million.
The prosecution said the forged letter sought to stop Mr Giwa’s arraignment scheduled before judge, Samira Bature of the High Court in Maitama, Abuja, on 2 July 2024.
The police alleged forgery was done “with the intention of causing it to be believed that such a document was made signed and sealed by the authority of the said letterhead.”
PREMIUM TIMES reported in July that the judge, Ms Bature, had warned Mr Giwa, Mr Osakwe, a property developer, and Edith Erhunmwuuse, a police officer, after their failure to appear in court for the sixth time.
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