Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered a lawyer, Nnamdi Kalu, to appear before him on July 19 to clarify the whereabouts of his client, Richard Edemadem, who had allegedly jumped bail.
Justice Alagoa summoned the lawyer on Friday during the trial of four persons and a company arranged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged N36,837,438.20 fraud.
The EFCC is prosecuting Edemadem, Samuel Okpapi, Nelson Ojovbo, Bamigbade Olushola, and ISD Technology Limited for fraudulently tampering with MTN Communications Nigeria Limited’s Critical Mobile Telecommunications Network System.
The anti-graft agency claimed that the defendants used the compromised Critical Mobile Telecommunications Network System to send unsolicited messages to subscribers, debit their accounts, and share the money.
However, midway into Friday’s proceedings, Justice Lewis-Allagoa observed that only four defendants in the charge before him were in court.
He then asked the prosecutor, Nnemeka Omewa, why the first defendant, whose name the witness frequently mentioned, was not in court.
In his reply to the question, Omewa told Justice Alagoa that the first defendant had since jumped bail, while his counsel is also no longer coming to the case.
In response to the prosecutor’s explanation, Justice Alagoa asked him why the prosecution had not pursued the sureties, at least if it would mean forfeiting the bail bond they had signed if they had been unable to produce the defendant.
At this point, Justice Alagoa ordered the defendant’s counsel, who had also not been coming to court, to appear on the next adjourned date to clarify what he knew about his client’s whereabouts.
Meanwhile, following the conclusion of the witness’s evidence, Justice Lewis-Alagoa has adjourned the trial until July 9, 2025.
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