A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday, ordered the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to produce two foreign nationals; Etienne Rocher and Pawan Kapur and others for arraignment.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik gave the directive following the absence of the defendants in court to take their plea in the alleged N37.6 million fraud preferred against them by the police.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, the IGP had, in the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/504/2024, dragged Tincan Island Container Terminal Ltd, Mr Rocher, Mr Kapur, and Maryam Olapade as 1st to 4th defendants respectively to court.
Joined in the six-count charge are Mr Adigun Rasheed Akinkunmi and Mr Raphael Ugbe as the 5th and 6th defendants.
Tincan Island Container Terminal Ltd, Rocher, Kapur, Olopade, Akinkunmi and Ugbe, in the charge, filed October 29, were alleged to have been between April 1, 2021 and August 28, 2023, at the Nigerian Ports Authority, Tin-Can Island, Lagos State by false pretence defrauded Chief Ifeanyi Ezenwabachili of the sum of N37.6 million.
The offence, according to NAN, is contrary to Section 1(1)(b) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, Cap A6, Law of the Federation of Nigeria, 2010.
The defendants, in another count, were alleged to have stolen over N37 million, property of Chief Ezenwabachili between April 1, 2021 and August 28, 2023, at the Nigerian Ports Authority.
The offence is contrary to and punishable under Section 390(9) of the Criminal Code, Cap C23, Law of the Federation of Nigeria, 2010.
They were also charged with money laundering offences punishable under Section 21 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, Law of the Federation of Nigeria, 2022, among others.
When the matter was called on Thursday, IGP’s lawyer, Joseph Udo, informed the court that the matter was slated for the arraignment of the defendants, adding that though the 2nd to 6th defendants were admitted to administrative bail, he wondered why they were not in court having been served with the charge.
Justice Abdulmalik, however, told Udo that since the police admitted the defendants to administrative bail, it was their duty to produce them in court, threatening that if the police failed to do the needful, the charge would be struck out for want of diligent prosecution.
She subsequently adjourned the matter until February 5, 2025, for arraignment.
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