Court Remands Unionist In Prison Over Alleged N72.5m Theft

Justice Mojisola Dada of the Lagos State Special Offences Court in Ikeja has remanded a former member of the National Union of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE), Peter Onoja in prison for allegedly stealing the sum of N72.5 million from the union.

Justice Dada ordered that the defendant be remanded in any correctional facility of his choice in Lagos pending the filing and hearing of his bail application.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned Onoja before the court on a six-count charge of stealing, contrary to Section 287 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2011.

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The EFCC counsel, Mrs Anita Imo had told the court that the defendant fraudulently converted the sum of N72.5 million, property of NUFBTE to his personal use.

She also claimed that the defendant committed the offences between February 2015 and August 2020 in Lagos.

The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Following his not-guilty plea, the prosecution urged the court to remand the defendant in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service pending the commencement of his trial.

Imo sais, “given the not guilty plea of the defendant, we shall be asking for a trial date and we urge the court that the defendant be remanded, my lord.’’

But the defence counsel, Paul Okwoi informed the court that the defence could not file his bail application due to an error he noticed in it.

He, however, prayed to the court that two dates be granted in December for the defence counsel to file his bail application

After listening to the lawyers, Justice Dada adjourned the case until January 24 for the commencement of trial and hearing of the bail application.