Lagos State government has arraigned popular auto dealer, Ikechukwu Ogbonna, also known as IVD, before a state High Court in Ikeja over the death of his wife, Abimbola Martins-Ogbonna.
Ogbonna was arraigned before Justice Modupe Nicole-Clay on a count charge of involuntary manslaughter in the charge marked as LD/21055C/23.
The businessman, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge, which the prosecution said is contrary to Section 229 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.
During the arraignment, the prosecutor, Adeshola Bello, told the judge that there was a mix-up in the date the alleged offence was committed, she pointed out that on the face of the charge 10th October was printed, but that the date the incident occurred was 12th October.
Bello then prayed to the judge for an indulgence to make an amendment, which the court granted.
The defence counsel, Victor Ogunde (SAN) urged the court to grant his client bail.
The lawyer’s request was, however, queried by the judge as to why he was bringing a bail application even though the defendant had been on bail since March 1, 2023.
In response, Ogunde said that the current charge against the defendant was with a different charge number and he thought the bail earlier granted had elapsed.
Justice Nicole-Clay has adjourned the matter until March 30, for the commencement of the trial.
It would be recalled that the news of the death of the late Mrs Abimbola Ogbonna had gone viral on October 12, 2022, after she died in a fire incident that occurred in the couple’s home in the Lekki area of Lagos.
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