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Supreme Court revokes bail granted Fred Ajudua in alleged $1.04m fraud case

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The Supreme Court has ordered that Lagos socialite, Fred Ajudua should be returned to prison custody preparatory to the resumption of his trial in relation to a $1,043,000 fraud case brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

A five-member panel of the apex court issued the order in a unanimous judgment delivered on Friday in an appeal, marked: SC/CR/51/2019 filed in the name of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, FRN, by the EFCC, with Ajudua as the sole respondent.

In the lead judgment by Justice Chioma Nwosu-Iheme, the apex court revoked the bail granted to Ajudua by the Court of Appeal in Lagos in a judgment delivered on December 10, 2018.

Justice Nwosu-Iheme held that the Court of Appeal had no jurisdiction to grant the bail it granted Ajudua in the December 10, 2018 judgment having found incompetent the brief of argument filed in Ajudua’s appeal against a July 5, 2018 ruling by Justice Mojisola Dada of the HIgh of Lagos State, Ikeja, rejecting his request for pre-trial bail.

The judge further held that, having found that Ajudua’s brief of argument was incompetent and proceeded to strike it out, the Court of Appeal was wrong to have still considered the incompetent brief and granted the appellant’s prayer for pre-trial bail.

She said: “It is crystal clear that the lower court was on all fours with the law when it declared the appellant’s brief of argument incompetent and struck it out.

“At that point, the appellant’s (Ajudua’s) appeal was extinguished. There was therefore, nothing more to consider in that appeal. The lower court, at that point, had no jurisdiction to proceed further. It had become functus officio.”

Justice Nwosu-Iheme held that the action of the lower court, in proceeding to consider the arguments canvassed in the brief of argument it earlier found to be incompetent, was an exercise in futility and a complete nullity.

She added: “Since the lower court had no jurisdiction to consider other issues canvassed in the brief of argument, which it had declared incompetent and struck out, it would amount to an academic exercise to delve into any other issue in the appeal.

“This appeal, having been determined on the issue of jurisdiction alone, the issue of bail is inseparable from the appeal itself.

“This appeal succeeds and it is hereby allowed. The decision of the trial court dated the 5th day of July 2018 refusing bail to the respondent (Ajudua) is hereby restored.

“The respondent is to be remanded in prison custody. Accordingly, this case is remitted back to the Chief Judge of Lagos State to be assigned to the same trial judge, M. A. Dada J for the continuation of speedy trial and determination within the shortest possible time,” Justice Nwosu-Iheme said.

The Embassy of the State of Palestine had, in a letter dated August 26, 1993 to the then Minister of Foreign Affairs and copied the IGP, accused Ajudua of obtaining $1,043,000 by false pretence from a Palestinian, Ziad Abu Zalaf, who was then based in Germany.

Upon the completion of investigation, the EFCC filed a 12-count charge against Ajudua before the High Court of Lagos State in Ikeja.

In the charge, the EFCC alleged among others, that Ajudua conspired with one Joseph Ochunor, who is still at large, to obtain money by false pretenses from Ziad Abu Zalaf of Technical International Ltd., a division of Mystic Company Ltd., a German-based company.

It also alleged that, with intent to defraud, Ajudua and Ochunor obtained $268,000 on April 2, 1993 from Zalaf and on May 12, 1993 again obtained the sum of $225,000 from Zalaf.

The EFCC equally claimed that Ajudua and Ochunor, in a bid to give credence to the alleged scam, forged a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) receipt and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and presented it to the foreigner as genuine.

Ajudua was subsequently arraigned. But, before trial could commence, his lawyer, Olalekan Ojo brought an application for pre-trial bail, claiming his client was suffering from serious health challenge.

In a ruling on July 5, 2018, Justice Dada refused the bail application and ordered him to submit himself for trial, a decision Ajudua appealed at the Court of Appeal in Lagos.

It its judgment on December 10, 2018, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal reversed Justice Dada’s decision and granted bail to Ajudua.

Justice Mohammed Garba, in the lead judgment of the Court of Appeal, held among others, that bail is a constitutional right, which the appellant (Ajudua) ought to enjoy.

The EFCC was dissatisfied with the decision of the Court of Appeal and challenged it at the Supreme Court, which appeal the apex court allowed in it judgment on Friday and proceeded to restore the earlier decision of Justice Dada denying bail to Ajudua.

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Man in shock after lady he lodged with in a hotel in Abuja flees with his car and other valuables

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A Nigerian man is currently in shock after a young lady identified as Precious Chinyere , whom he took to a hotel in the Asokoro area in the FCT for a romantic getaway allegedly fled with his car and other personal belongings on Thursday, February 5,

The distraught man and Precious had visited the hotel and opted for a short time stay. Things took a different in the evening when the man noticed Precious had left the hotel room without notifying him and took along with her some of his personal belongings including phones and laptop and also his car.

The victim immediately reported the incident to the police.

When contacted, the spokesperson of the FCT police command, SP Josephine Adeh, told LIB that the matter is currently being investigated and that efforts are being made to apprehend the suspect.

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US Reacts As De@th Toll In Kwara Terror Attacks Hits 200

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The United States Mission in Nigeria has condemned the k!lling of more than 200 civilians in recent attacks on communities in Kwara State.

Recall that terrorists launched de@dly attacks on Woro and Nuku communities in Kaiama Local Government Area of the state on Tuesday night, k!lling unsuspecting citizens.

It was gathered that the gunmen invaded the villages, opened fire on residents and burned homes.

According to reports, the de@th toll from the unfortunate incident hit 200 on Thursday night.

Reacting, the US Mission Nigeria condemned the k!lling via a post on its official X handle.

The post reads, “The United States condemns the horrific attack in Kwara state in Nigeria, which claimed the lives of more than 160 people, with the de@th toll still unconfirmed and many still unaccounted for.

“We express our deepest condolences to the families of those affected by this senseless violence.

“We welcome President Tinubu’s order to deploy security forces to protect villages in the area and his directive to federal and state officials to provide aid to the community and bring the perpetrators of this atrocity to justice.”

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“I’ll never settle for a barber, yahoo boy or a poor man” — nail tech’s list of men she says she can’t marry sparks reactions online

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A Nigerian nail technician has set social media talking after openly listing the kind of men she says she can never settle for.

In a now-viral post, she stated clearly that she refuses to “settle for less” and went on to mention professions and traits she considers a no-go area.

According to her, she can never settle for a barber, an aza man, a yahoo boy, a mechanic, an actor, a laundry man, a hype man, or a plumber. She also added that she wouldn’t marry a man with a high body count or a poor man.

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