A 38-year-old man, Lukman Olayiwola was on Wednesday arraigned before the Chief Magistrate Court No 2, sitting in Oyo Town, Oyo State on two counts allegations bordering on willfully presenting himself as a legal practitioner and fraudulently obtaining money from an unsuspecting ‘client.’
The case file with Charge Number: MOY/222C/2024 said the accused person, sometimes in September, 2023 at the Monitoring Unit Office of the Nigeria Police at Durbar, Oyo willfully presented himself as a legal practitioner to one Police Inspector Oluwole Olugbade who was the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) in a case of obtaining money by false pretences involving one Olubayo Abiodun.
The Police said, the offence is contrary to, and punishable under Section 22 of the Legal Practitioners Act, Cap L11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
On the second count, the defendant, while acting as a legal practitioner to one Olubayo Abosede, allegedly fraudulently obtained the sum of One Hundred Thousand Naira (N100, 000.00) from Olubayo under the pretext of helping her to facilitate the tracking and arrest of a suspect by operatives of the Monitoring Unit.
Police therefore accused the defendant of committing an offence contrary to, and punishable under section 419 of the criminal code, 3cap 38 volume ll Laws of Oyo State of Nigeria 2000.
The court presided over by a Chief Magistrate, S.T. Tolani-Balogun, admitted the accused person to bail after pleading not guilty to the 2-count charge.
The court granted the accused person bail as the Police Prosecutor, Fola Osegbade Esq. did not oppose his bail application.
Meanwhile, the Oyo Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, (NBA) which has monitored the case from the time the suspect was arrested, pledged to ensure that the prosecution was properly followed to its logical conclusion.
Chairman, Oyo Branch of the NBA, Olajide Olanipekun Esq., stated this in a statement sent to LEADERSHIP in Oyo on Wednesday, where the legal practitioners’ body disclosed that a delegation led by a former Secretary of the branch, O. Ashade Esq. was in court for the arraignment of the defendant on behalf of the Bar.
NBA Oyo Branch also commended the Police for being proactive in arresting the accused person in the course of their investigation after presenting himself as a lawyer.
Olanipekun vowed that “Oyo Bar will leave no stone unturned to rid its rank of fake Lawyers.”
The case was subsequently adjourned to October 3, 2024 for hearing.
