Emmanuel Ukudolo l November 25, 2016
Lagos, Nigeria – A Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi,m Lagos was today told how Justice Rita Ofili Ajumogobia of a Federal High Court, Ilorin division played pranks on officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) at Gold Cross Hospital, Ikoyi, Lagos.
The Prosecution lawyer, Idris. D Mohammed, who was proferring reasons for detaining the judge for days without trial, told the court, presided over by Justice M. S. Hassan that Ajumogobia refused to show up on invitation, forcing the EFCC to call her on phone.
According to him, the judge told officials of the commission that she was on admission at Gold Cross Hospital, Ikoyi.
The EFCC, he said then dispatched officials to the hospital who were told by the receptionist in charge of record that no patient by that name was on admission.
“Officials told the receptionist, if she is on admission, please lead us to her ward, we want to see her. But the receptionist told us that no patient by that name was on admission’’, he told the court.
He said court it was while there that Ajumogobia called the Managing Director of the hospital who in turn called the receptionist to sneak her name into the record but that officials of EFCC intercepted the call.
“The receptionist said the MD called her to sneak her names into the computer’’, he said.
He told the court that the Managing Director of the hospital later connived with a doctor in the hospital to sneak Anumogobia into the hospital through the back door.
He said that later, the defendant’s brother, Donald came in and told officials of the commission that, you want to see Ajumogobia and that it was during the altercation with Donald that Rita Ofili Ajumogobia came out with a drip, “ and we simply ignored her’’, he said, adding that Ajumogobia showed up the next day at the commission’s office and was granted bail but that she could not meet up with bail condition until the next day.
He told the court that in bail Ajumogobia was trying to interfere with investigation to the extent of calling her account officers in charge of Nigel and Olive Ltd at Diamond Bank and Access Bank.
“They said the applicant contacted them to interfere with investigation’’, he said and that Ajumogobia has not been able to account for the money in the accounts.
He told the court that N5 million was transferred by Mr. Godwin Obla, SAN into Ajumogobia’s account when he was appearing before him in a particular matter.
He said Ajumogobia told officials of the commission that the money was proceeds from landed properties in Asaba and Benin that she inherited from her mother Cordelia Ajumogobia, worth 100 million.
He told the court that when EFCC officials told her of intention to pay verification visit to Asaba and Benin to verify the properties she then volunteered to call her lawyer but that she thereafter continued to interfere with investigation by calling and telling the lawyer tom run away.
He said 3 phones were initially seized from her and 3 others including an IPAD were later collected from her when she was searched.
He told the court that she was detained based on an order from a magistrate court and that she will be arraigned before Justice Oshodi of an Ikeja High Court on Monday, November 28th, 2016.
Earlier, counsel to Ajumogobia, M. Onigbanjo Moyosore SAN had argued that continued detention of his client without trial was a breach of her liberty and filled application for her bail.
Justice Hassan has fixed Tuesday, November 29th to rule on her bail application.
