Justice Mojisola Dada of the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja has sent back a convicted fraudster, Anthony Okpala, who was allegedly released from prison custody without a valid court order, back to the Kirikiri Centre of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS).
Justice Dada had on December 21, 2023, convicted and sentenced Okpala and his company, Mashuchun International Limited, to a seven-year jail term for converting to their use the sum of $177 000 and the N6, 504, 000
The judge, who gave the verdict when he delivered judgment on a charge numbered ID/8863C/2019, filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) also ordered the businessman to pay N1 million in addition to the jail term.
But after the sentence was passed on the convict, he was allegedly released by some NCoS officials without any court order.
Following his unlawful release, the nominal complainant, Ibrahim Zango, through his lawyer, Benignus Mbam, petitioned the minister of interior and the comptroller- general of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS) on the alleged illegal acts of the NCoS officials.
Apart from the petition, the lawyer also reported the alleged unlawful act of the warders to the presiding judge. The development made the judge summon the prison official.
However, when the matter came up on Friday, Justice Dada expressed her displeasure on the conduct of the prison authorities, describing it as unlawful.
The convicted fraudster’s lawyer, Ajanaku, told the court that he has an application for bail pending appeal.
The EFCC lawyer, Kalu Nwado, admitted to being served with the application.
Consequently, Justice Dada, who ordered that the convicted fraudster be returned to Kirikiri Centre of Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS), adjourned the matter till May 16 for the hearing of his application.
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