The special offences court in Lagos has sentenced Emmanuel Nwude, a former director of the Union Bank of Nigeria, and two lawyers to one year imprisonment each over forgery and illegally dealing in forfeited property.
The two lawyers are Emmanuel Ilechukwu and Rowland Kalu.
Mojisola Dada, the trial judge, convicted the three men on
Wednesday after many years of trial, according to a statement released by the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
THE CASE
In 2005, Nwude was sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment after
convincing Nelson Sakaguchi, then director of Banco Noroeste, a Brazilian bank,
to buy a non-existent airport for $242 million.
On March 2, 2018, Nwude, Ilechukwu, and Kalu were arraigned
on an amended 15-count charge bordering on conspiracy, forgery, uttering false
documents, dealing in forfeited property, attempting to pervert the course of
justice, and fabricating evidence.
According to the EFCC, between 2011 and 2012, the trio
attempted to engage in business transactions with a property located at Plot Y,
Mobolaji Johnson Street in Oregun, Ikeja, without authorisation from the
authorities.
Prosecutors said they knew the property had already been
forfeited to victims of crime as restitution following a judgement delivered on
November 18, 2005, in a case involving Nwude and several others.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.
During the trial, the prosecution, led by Nnaemeka Omewa,
called five witnesses and presented several documents that were admitted as
evidence by the court.
After the prosecution closed its case on March 19, 2019,
Nwude filed a no-case submission, arguing that the prosecution had not
established a case against them.
However, in a ruling on September 19, 2019, the judge
dismissed the application and directed the defendants to open their defence.
Displeased with the judgement, Nwude approached the appeal
court. But the court dismissed the appeal and ordered him to return to the
trial court to continue his defence.
On February 22, 2021, Nwude opened his defence, testified
for himself, and called three witnesses before closing his case.
His co-defendants, Ilechukwu and Kalu, also testified before
the court and closed their defence on February 27, 2025.
Afterwards, the court asked the parties in the case to file
their final written addresses and initially adjourned the matter to June 25,
2025.
The defendants filed their final submissions at different
times, with the third defendant serving his response to the prosecution on June
20, 2025.
However, when the matter came up again on June 25, 2025, the
court adjourned proceedings to September 25, 2025.
Afterwards, Babajide Martins, Lagos director of the
directorate of public prosecutions (DPP), appeared in court and informed the
judge that he had been instructed to take over the case following a petition
submitted to his office by the second defendant, Ilechukwu.
The judge said the case was already at the stage of adopting
final written addresses and questioned why the DPP would seek to take over
proceedings that were virtually concluded.
Martins was unable to provide a clear explanation during the
proceedings.
The court subsequently adjourned the matter to November 5,
2025, to allow the first defendant’s counsel to file a reply on points of law
to the prosecution’s final address before the adoption stage.
Delivering the judgement, Dada found the defendants guilty
on counts one, two, three, four, five, six, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15.
The judge acquitted the defendants on counts seven and
eight, which bordered on making false statements to a public officer.
The judge, thereafter, convicted and sentenced each of the
defendants to one year’s imprisonment.
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