Army Colonel accused of rape shuns court summons

Army authorities claimed the officer had been redeployed

A Kaduna State Magistrate Court has ordered the arrest of an Army Colonel accused of raping a 16-year-old girl.

The order came after the accused, Azingie Williams, a Lieutenant Colonel with the Nigeria Defence Academy, NDA, refused to appear in court despite past summons.

Mr. Williams is accused of raping the girl on October 22 in Kaduna after luring her to his house on the pretext of sending her on an errand.

The court had on November 25 ordered that the accused be duly served of the notice, and according to the court’s registrar, the summons was served through the commandant of the NDA.

The commandant, however, in a letter to the Kaduna Chief Magistrates’ Court 13, returned the summons notice claiming the accused had been transferred to Benin.

The Counsel to the complainant, Dyagas Ezekiel, deplored the manner with which the Army was handling the issue, urging the court to compel the Army to trace Mr. William and serve him properly.

He also prayed the court to issue a bench warrant authorizing the arrest of the colonel.

Senior Magistrate, Sa’adatu Sambo, issued a bench warrant against the accused and said the order should be served through the Chief of Army Staff and the Commandant of the NDA.

The case has been adjourned to December 5.

NAN