Bogged by the incessant excuses of defence counsel, the Lagos High Court has warned it would no longer tolerate requests for adjournments in the celebrated case of kidnap suspect, Chukwudumem Onwuamadike, popularly known as Evans.
The trial of the suspected kidnap kingpin resumed on Tuesday at the Lagos State High Court with a new counsel representing the accuse person.
Mr. Chino Obiagwu, the new counsel requested for a short adjournment to enable him study the case file, but Justice Hakeem Oshodi refused the request.
He turned down the request because he would no longer accept further delays.
The fifth and sixth defendants counsel, Mr Agwulanna Uzoukwu and Mr Emmanuel Ochai, opposed Mr Obiagwu’s prayer, pointing out that the several adjournments were affecting the liberty of their clients.
On his part, the state counsel, Mr Haaron Adebayo, also opposed the adjournment request, saying the state was ready for trial.
The trial had been put on hold, with the last hearing on June 26 because of changes in defence counsels.
After the various parties had made their cases at the hearing on Tuesday it was then adjourned till October 26 for further hearing.
Evans in August 2017 pleaded guilty to conspiracy and kidnapping before a judge of the Ikeja High Court.
Evans and five others were arraigned on a two-count charge of conspiracy and kidnapping.
The judge ordered that all the male defendants be remanded at Kirikiri Maximum Prison while the female defendant, who pleaded not guilty to all the charges, be kept at the Kirikiri Female Prison.
The case continued to drag apparently deliberate to stall proceedings by defence who continuously sought adjournments and in some cases withdrawal of defence counsel.
A trial judge had also hands off the case
Justice Abdulazeez Anka of the Federal High Court, Lagos declined to hear a fundamental rights suit filed by suspected kidnapper, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, alias Evans.
Evans is seeking N300 million damages for his illegal detention.
NAN
Emeh Achanga,the CEO of the Miss Petite Nigeria Brand is a lawyer turned blogger. She is very passionate about writing, with several publications and awards to her credit .She is currently working on publishing a collection of short stories which are basically a memoir about her exciting true experiences.
