Justice Yusuf Halilu of an Abuja High Court on Tuesday ordered the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to do everything within his power to produce five former senior police officers for prosecution.
Mr Halilu issued the order on Tuesday after prosecution counsel Rimamsomte Ezekiel expressed disappointment over the former officers’ absence in court in spite of being served with the charge.
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Mr Halilu said, “You are the prosecutor. You should do all within your powers to ensure that the defendants attend court on the next adjourned date for the purpose of arraignment.”
He subsequently adjourned until 25 September for the prosecution to produce the five suspects.
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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the five former senior police officers are: AIG Idowu Owohunwa (Rtd), CP Benneth Igweh (Rtd), CP Ukachi Opara (Rtd), DCP Obo Ukam Obo (Rtd), and ACP Simon Lough (Rtd)
They are listed as defendants in a 14-count charge brought against them by the Inspector General of Police (IGP).
In the charge marked CR/353/2025, Messrs Owohunwa, Igwe, Opera, Obo and Lough are charged with, among others, conspiracy, age falsification and forgery.
At the start of proceedings on Tuesday, Mr Ezekiel noted that the accused persons were absent from court.
He told the court that the five suspects had all been served with the charge as required by law and that they were expected to be in court for their arraignment.
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Mr Ezekiel said: “They were all served with the charge last week Thursday. They were all informed to be in court today, but none of them is in court.
“We find it difficult to ask for a bench warrant because they have not been arraigned before this court,” Mr Ezekiel said.
He subsequently applied for an adjournment to enable the prosecution to produce the defendants for arraignment.
(NAN)
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