Absence of defence lawyer stalls court trials of EFCC’s case against land racketeer

By Ekuson Nw’Ogbunka
Abuja

Absence of defense counsel to alleged land racketeer, Moses Erih and Micmerab Resources Niger Limited (suspects), a company he is a director in, has been stalled by the absence of their lawyer in court.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has allegedly arraigned them in High Court 30 of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Apo presided over by Justice Baba Shaini for four cout charges to wit, obtaining money by false pretences

Represented by the Prosecution Counsel, Richard B.

Dauda of the Legal and Prosecution Department of EFCC, the anti graft agency gave him four count charges, among which was for allegedly, sometimes in 2007 at Abuja within the jurisdiction of the court, with intent to defraud and obtain by false pretence property situated at plot ED 22, Sabon Lugbe East Layout, Abuja via a document captioned, “estste development lease agreement” between Messrs Uche Okoronkwo and Obi Okoronkwo Company Limited (complainant) ,and the suspect on 13 September, 2007, purportedly executed by the complainant, which pretence, they knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to S.1 (1) (1a) and punishable under S.1 (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act 2006.

Second charge was that in the same court jurisdiction in Abuja, in the same 2007, the suspect forged a certain document to wit: “an estate development agreement” between the suspect and the complaint,Merss Uche Okoronkwo & Obi Okoronkwo with intent to cause the complainant to part with the same property in the same land and therefore committed an offence contrary to S 363 of the Penal Code Act, Cap 532, LFN (Abuja), 1990 and punishable under S.364 of the same law.

The third charge, was that the suspect, sometimes in 2007 within the juridiction of the court, fraudulently used as genuine a certain document to be “estate development agreement” between the suspect, his company and Uche Okoronkwo and Obi Okoronkwo the complainant, which he knew to be a forged document and thereby committed an offence contrary to S 366 of the Penal Code Act Cap LFN (Abuja) 1990 and punishable under S 364 of the same law.

The fourth charge was that in the same 2007, within the court’s jurisdiction, suspect and his company knowingly had in their possession a forged document ie “estate development agreement” between him, his company and the complainant, intending that same shall fraudulently, be used as genuine and thereby committed an offence punishable under S. 368 of the Penal Code Act, Cap 532 LFN (Abuja) 1990.

However, when the case was called up, the suspect pleaded with the court that their lawyer’s car broke down on his way to the court and the case was adjourned.to the 5th day of October 2023 for definite hearing

Raising concerns over the spate of increase in land racketeering by fraudsters in FCT, as well as decrying the rate of growing cases of land grabbing which he attributed to complicity by both police and unscrupulous staff of the department of land in the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) whom he accused of being part of the syndicate that create the enabling environment for the racketeerers to perpetrate the crime and get share from the crime, the counsel watching brief of the nominal complainant Remy Ifeanyi Agu Esq, enjoined all stakeholders to have a common synergy in other to fight the monster called land racketeering in FCT to bring sanity devoid of fraud and restore confidence in our institutions