The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, sitting in Apo, Abuja, on Thursday, commenced hearing in a case of alleged forgery and impersonation filed against Abuja-based lawyer, Victor Giwa, and one other defendant, Ibitade Bukola.
The defendants were standing trial before Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie on allegations of forging official documents and impersonating a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Awa Kalu, with the intent to mislead the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (OAGF) into withdrawing criminal charges against Giwa pending before the FCT High Court in Maitama.
At Thursday’s proceedings, Prosecution Counsel, F.G. Gabriel, called the first prosecution witness (PW1), who identified herself as a resident of Maitama, Abuja.
When asked if she knew the first defendant, the witness confirmed she did and proceeded to narrate events that occurred between June 28, 2024, and July 8, 2024.
PW1 told the court that she had purchased a property from a developer, Cecil Osakwe, in February 2021, made full payment, and took possession.
However, she alleged that Osakwe had a history of selling properties and later attempting to repudiate such transactions once the property appreciated in value.
According to the witness, after she had lived in the property for about seven months, the developer petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in September 2021, but the case was dismissed after she presented evidence of payment.
PW1 further stated that Osakwe later filed a civil action against her in September 2022. Shortly afterwards, she received a threatening letter dated December 21, 2021, allegedly from the first defendant, ordering her to vacate her home within 14 days or face forceful eviction.
“True to his threat, he led armed thugs and some policemen, now at large, who broke into my home and forcefully ejected me and my wards under the guise of executing a purported court judgment,” she said.
She added that she reported the illegal eviction to the police, and the case file was subsequently transferred to the Attorney-General of the Federation for review. The AGF then filed a nine-count charge against Giwa, which included illegal eviction, malicious damage, disconnection of essential services, and mischief.
PW1 told the court that Giwa was scheduled to be arraigned on July 2, 2024, but allegedly devised several schemes to evade justice.
“One such scheme,” she said, “was forging a letter to the AGF, impersonating Barrister Awa Kalu (SAN), and requesting that the charges against him be withdrawn.”
She added that she discovered the letter online on Leaders.ng on July 8, 2024, and forwarded it to her lawyer, Mr. Deji Adeyanju, who expressed doubt that a SAN would write such a letter.
“I also noticed several spelling and grammatical errors, which raised my suspicion that the letter could not have come from a learned silk,” she testified.
PW1 said her lawyer subsequently wrote to and visited Awa Kalu’s chambers to verify the authenticity of the letter. Later that day, Adeyanju confirmed that Kalu categorically denied authoring it and disassociated himself from Ibitade Bukola, the second defendant, whose NBA seal appeared on the letter.
When asked by the prosecution to identify the seal, the witness confirmed that “the seal on the letter belongs to the second defendant.”
She said her lawyer later received a formal letter from Kalu’s chambers affirming that the letter did not emanate from his law firm and that the second defendant had never worked there.
PW1 said she then instructed her lawyer to notify the AGF and petition the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) for an investigation.
“After about three months, on October 28, 2024, I was invited by the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID), where I was interviewed about the letter and the impersonation,” she said.
“Had I not taken steps to expose the forgery, the AGF might have been misled into withdrawing the nine-count charge against the first defendant, which would have resulted in a grave miscarriage of justice.”
PW1 further alleged that the first defendant still retains possession of her property and belongings taken during March 18, 2022 illegal eviction.
During the investigation at FCID, she said, Kalu (SAN) requested to arrange a meeting with the 1St defendant through the Investigating Police Officer, ASP Titus, which she declined, citing concerns about the first defendant’s alleged “propensity to fabricate stories.”
“I do not know the second defendant personally,” she added, “but I have received court processes bearing her name from their law firm on several occasions.”
The witness identified her written statement made at the Force CID, which the court admitted as Exhibit 1A, following no objection from the 2nd defence counsel, Ogbu Aboje, and 1st defendant, who represented himself
Justice Onwuegbuzie subsequently adjourned the matter to November 12, 2025, for cross-examination of PW1.
