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Tag: lawyer

  • Chelsea midfielder Willian asks lawyers to act on ‘forged’ letter

    Chelsea midfielder Willian asks lawyers to act on ‘forged’ letter

    Chelsea midfielder Willian says he has instructed his lawyers to act after a “forged” document was circulated on the “football market”.

    The letter appears to show the 29-year-old’s signature authorising a change of agent to represent him.

    However, the Brazilian claimed he “never signed the letter” in an Instagram post on Thursday.

    Willian has been linked with moves to Manchester United, Real Madrid and Barcelona this summer.

    In the post, Willian said he had been made aware of a document that “has been circulated through the football market”.

    “I would like to clarify that I never signed such letter, the content of which I completely deny,” he added.

    And he alleged there was “clear evidence that my signature has been forged, or anyway misused”, which had prompted him to instruct his lawyers “to proceed with all appropriate legal measures before any competent courts or authorities”.

    The midfielder, who has spent five years at Chelsea, was due to report to pre-season training with the Blues last Friday, after representing Brazil at the World Cup in Russia, but he failed to arrive.

    New manager Maurizio Sarri says he is not happy about the “strange” situation, and he will seek immediate talks with Willian.

  • DPO, policemen beat Imo chief magistrate, lawyers for discharging robbery suspects

    There was trouble at Umuneke Ngor Magistrate’s Court in the Ngor Okpala Local Government Area of Imo State on Tuesday after policemen under the supervision of the Divisional Police Officer in the area allegedly invaded the court and beat up the Chief Magistrate, Ngozi Onyenemezu, for discharging three armed robbery suspects.

    The defence counsel, Emma Eke and Chukwuemeka Anyanwu, were also allegedly beaten, arrested and bundled to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department in Owerri. They were arraigned before the Magistrate’s Court 1 in Owerri on Friday.

    The Assistant Secretary of Owerri chapter of the Nigeria Bar Association, Chinedu Agu, told newsmen on the court premises on Friday that the magistrate and the lawyers were beaten and assaulted by the police.

    He described the action as an impunity that needed to be checked.

    He said three accused persons were arraigned before the Umuneke Ngor Magistrate’s Court on Monday where the counsel representing the accused persons, Eke and Anyanwu raised a preliminary objection on the grounds that the charge was defective and urged the court to strike it out and discharge the accused persons.

    The court was said to have entertained arguments from the counsel and the prosecution and adjourned the matter till Thursday for ruling.

    “In his ruling, the court upheld the arguments of the counsel and struck out the charge. Immediately the ruling was delivered and while the court was still sitting, the police went berserk.

    “They shouted and rained vituperations on the magistrate and made to rearrest the accused persons. When the court wanted to call them to order, the policemen made for the magistrate like rabid dogs and the magistrate quickly took refuge in his chambers.

    “Some other lawyers and litigants scampered to safety when the police started shooting into the air. Anyau in the process escaped the beating by the police and scurried into the Magistrate’s chambers.

    “The policemen, led by the DPO of that division, banged on the door of the magistrate’s chambers, accusing him of taking a bribe and threatening to break down the door if he didn’t open it.

    “The DPO got hold of the accused persons and in the process of rearresting them, one escaped. He accused Eke of complicity in the escape of the other accused person.

    “Before he could explain himself, he got hold of one of the nail-ridden chairs and smashed it on Eke’s head . Other policemen joined in this orgy and Emma was maimed and beaten into a pulp.

    “It took the quick intervention of the Area Commander who arrived at the scene to rescue the magistrate,” he said.

    At the court on Friday, no fewer than 80 lawyers led by a former Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General in the state, Soronadi Njoku, announced appearances for the two lawyers who were arraigned by the police.

    The presiding magistrate, ROC Nwoka, who granted the two lawyers bail on self recognisance, ordered the police to release a car belonging to one of the lawyers and make all records and documents available to the defendants for accelerated trial .

    She adjourned the matter till July 30.

    The Owerri NBA Chairman, Damian Nosike, said the branch would pursue the matter until justice was served.

    Nosike, who described the alleged assault as a blow to the legal profession, demanded that those who beat the magistrate and lawyers be expelled from the police and arraigned.

    But the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Andrew Enwerem, told our correspondent that policemen neither beat the magistrate nor invaded the court. He said that the two lawyers defending the armed robbery suspects attacked the policemen “who were on a lawful duty.”

    He accused the lawyers of aiding the escape of two out of the three armed robbery suspects and vowed that the command would stop at nothing in making sure that they were prosecuted by the court.

  • Lawyer docked over alleged criminal intimidation

    The police on Thursday arraigned a lawyer, Sunday Aroh, in a Kubwa Grade 1 Area Court, Abuja, over alleged criminal intimidation.

    Aroh was docked on charges bordering on criminal intimidation and inciting disturbance.

    The prosecutor, John Okpa told the court that one Suleiman Abdullahi reported the matter at the Kubwa Police Station on June 29.

    Okpa told the court that the defendant had threatened the complainant and his workers, while carrying out renovation in his compound.

    Okpa alleged that the defendant called one Dan Nwobodo, on his cell phone.

    He alleged that Nwobodo drove into the compound with his Toyota Camry car, in a dangerous manner “towards the workers.’’

    The prosecutor alleged that when Nwobodo escaped, the defendant was arrested.

    He said that the offences contravened the provisions of Sections 114 and 83 of the Penal Code.

    The defendant denied committing the offences, while the judge, Abdulwahab Mohammed, granted him bail in the sum of N100, 000, with one surety in like sum.

    The case was adjourned until Aug. 23 for hearing.

    NAN

  • Four reasons rape is prevalent in Nigeria – Lawyer

    A Port Harcourt based lawyer, Mr Kingdom Ifedichukwuezi, says alcohol and drug abuse are responsible for the increasing incidences of rape in the country.
    Ifedichukuwuezi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt on Friday that most of the time rape suspects were on drugs when they committed the offence.
    According to him, “provocative (indecent) dressing ‘’ by some ladies is accountable for the increasing wave of rape in the society.
    “Indecent dressing by some ladies can seduce some men who cannot contain their desire.
    “If ladies dress decently, it will reduce the rape of young ladies,” he said.
    The lawyer noted that the rampant incidences of rape in recent times remained an indication of lack of social values on how women should be treated.
    Ifedichukwuezi regretted declining societal values; hence some members of the public could misbehave without the fear of being sanctioned.
    He added that peer group influence was another factor in incidences of rape.
    Ifedichukwuezi blamed religious institutions for not condemning the crime in churches and mosques.
    He said rather the clerics preached materialism.
    “Churches and Mosques have failed to preach against rape in our society,” he said.
    Ifedichukwuezi noted that rape victims did not speak up or report to the police for fear of stigma by the society.
    “Most men wouldn’t like to marry a lady that was raped for fear of contracting Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs),’’ he added.
    The lawyer, a staff member of Nigeria Legal Aid Council, Rivers branch, said the court process in the country could be long and cumbersome.
    He attributed the seventh causative factor unemployment and advised youths who were more prone to the crime to engage themselves in meaningful ventures.

  • Alleged N400m fraud: Metuh, lawyers absent from court as trial proceeds

    Alleged N400m fraud: Metuh, lawyers absent from court as trial proceeds

    The trial of a former National Publicity of the Peoples Democratic, Olisa Metuh, proceeded before the Federal High Court in Abuja in his absence and that of his lawyers on Friday.

    Metuh had, since his fall in court on Monday, been absent from the trial.

    His lawyer, Mr. Emeka Etiaba (SAN), who had since been appearing for him, did not attend the Thursday and Friday proceedings without any explanation offered for his absence.

    No lawyer in the defendant’s defence team led by Etiaba and another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu, attended the Thursday and Friday proceedings.

    Justice Okon Abang was forced to adjourn on Thursday due to the absence of legal representation for Metuh on Thursday.

    But on Friday, the judge ordered the continuation of the trial after overruling an objection to the application by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s lawyer, Mr. Sylvanus Tahir, for the trial to proceed in the absence of Metuh and his lawyers.

    The objection was raised by Mr. Tochukwu Onwugbufor (SAN), the counsel for Metuh’s co-accused, Destra Investment Limited, who had argued that the law never envisaged that a criminal trial would ever be conducted behind a defendant and his counsel.

    But in dismissing the objection, Justice Abang ruled that although the court had ruled that the matter would proceed in Metuh’s absence, the absence of the defence team was designed to frustrate the trial.

    The judge explained that the court did not bar Metuh from the proceedings but only held that “the trial will proceeding in his absence” due to what the court described as the defendant’s ‎”misconduct” in court on Monday.

  • Nigerian lawyer sues Oxford University over wrong dictionary definitions

    Nigerian lawyer sues Oxford University over wrong dictionary definitions

    A legal practitioner, Ogedi Ogu, has filed a N10m lawsuit against Oxford University Press, publisher of Oxford Dictionary, over an alleged wrongful definition of the words “mortgagee’’ and “mortgagor” in the dictionary.

    The first defendant in the suit filed before the Lagos State High Court in Igbosere is the University of Oxford while Oxford University Press was joined as the second defendant.

    In his statement of claim, Ogu claimed that he was embarrassed and suffered a loss of reputation as a lawyer when he relied on the definitions of the words in Oxford Dictionary, which, he claimed, were found to be incorrect.

    According to him, in the Oxford Mini Reference Dictionary and the Oxford English Mini Dictionary, which he purchased in 2005 and 2006 respectively, the word “mortgagee’’ was defined as the borrower in a mortgage transaction, while “mortgagor’’ was defined as the lender.

    According to him, Oxford Dictionary mixed up the meanings of the two words.

    Ogu, in his statement of claim, said he relied on the definitions while offering a legal advice to a professional colleague, who later pointed out to him that the definitions were wrong.

    According to him, his professional colleague drew his attention to the correct position in many other dictionaries apart from Oxford, which defines the word “mortgagee” to be the lender and “mortgagor” to be the borrower.

    Ogu claimed that he had since suffered a loss of professional respect among his colleagues, as his legal advice was no longer being sought.

    He said on account of this, he instructed his lawyer, Emmanuel Ofoegbu, to write a pre-litigation letter to University of Oxford and Oxford University Press on November 4, 2016, seeking redress.

    He said the defendants replied with a letter dated November 30, 2016, by their legal director, admitting the wrong definitions complained of but refused to accept any liability.

    The letter, he said, read partly, “Our dictionaries are made available as a reference tool only; they are never held out by OUP as being an alternative to seeking independent legal or financial advice, and we cannot take responsibility for an individual’s decision to use them as such.”

    Ogu said it was consequent upon this that he filed the suit, seeking damages in the sum of N10m.

    He also wants the court to order Oxford University Press to always ensure that all dictionaries published by them have a caveat warning readers that they are only available as reference tools and that anyone who relies on them as an alternative to seeking legal or financial advice, does so at his risk.

    The court has yet to fix a date for the hearing of the suit marked Temp/36433/2018.

  • ‘Lagos lawyer, Udeme Odibi ready to travel abroad day before killing husband’

    ‘Lagos lawyer, Udeme Odibi ready to travel abroad day before killing husband’

    Udeme Odibi, the 47-year-old Lagos-based lawyer, who reportedly stabbed her husband to death, was supposed to travel abroad a day before the crime was allegedly committed.

    It was gathered that she had arranged her luggage, preparatory to the journey on Wednesday, but reportedly decided to shelve the plan.

    The incident happened in the early hours of Thursday at the couple’s residence on Diamond Estate, Sangotedo, in Ajah area of Lagos State.

    A source, who spoke with Punch on Friday, stated that the suspect had been abroad since December 2017 before returning to Nigeria in April 2018.

    “The woman is jealous and always making trouble with the man. She used to be a lawyer in her husband’s chambers. Any time she saw a female client with the man, he was in trouble. At a point, the man had to let her leave the chambers.

    “She was supposed to travel abroad a day before she killed the man. She had already packed her luggage before she decided not to embark on the journey again,” the source said.

    TheNewsGuru had earlier reported that Udeme stabbed her husband, Otike, with a knife, ripping out his intestines.

    She was also said to have severed the penis of the deceased, placed it on his hand, and attempted to take her own life too but to no avail.

    The Lagos State Police Command, which confirmed the incident, said the victim had called a neighbour, his younger sister and mother on the telephone on Wednesday night, informing them of his wife’s threat to kill him.

    It was gathered that the duo’s three-year-old marriage that had not produced a child, was fraught with domestic violence.

     

    The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Chike Oti, said the suspect was still in the hospital under police watch and that investigation into the matter was ongoing.

  • Pandemonium as lawyer kills husband, removes internal organs in Lagos [Graphic photos]

    Pandemonium as lawyer kills husband, removes internal organs in Lagos [Graphic photos]

    There was pandemonium at the Diamond Estate, Sangotedo, Ajah, area of Lagos State on Thursday after a lawyer, Udeme Odibi, 47, allegedly stabbed her husband, Otike Odibi, to death following a short argument.

    The suspect was also said to have cut off the private parts of the deceased, who was also a lawyer, and stabbed herself.

    According to a press statement signed by the Lagos State Police Command spokesman, SP Chike Oti, the suspect was arrested while also trying to commit suicide.

    Oti said that on May 3, the Divisional Police Officer, Ogombo, Ajah, Lagos, received a distress call at about 7:30 am that one Mr. Otike Odibi was allegedly killed in his house at Diamond Estate, Sangotedo Lagos, by his wife, Mrs. Udeme Odibi.

    “Based on the information, the DPO mobilized a team of detectives to the scene, where they found the man lying on the bed in the pool of his own blood, with his stomach ripped open and exposing the intestine.

    ”As if that was not enough, the killer severed his genital and placed it on his right hand. However, before the arrival of the Police, Mrs. Udeme, who had unsuccessfully attempted to commit suicide after allegedly killing her husband, was rushed to the hospital for treatment by neighbours.

    “Sequel to the above, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, CP Edgal Imohimi, directed Crime Scene Detectives from the homicide section of the SCID Panti Yaba and forensic experts to the scene to aid in the investigation.

    “Witness account revealed that the couple, both of whom are lawyers, were married three years ago after the deceased divorced his first wife.

    “The deceased’s first marriage produced a daughter currently schooling in the UK. However, the current marriage is said to be without a child.

    “Further information from a neighbour revealed that the deceased called him on phone in the night before he was murdered, complaining that the wife was threatening to kill him with a knife.

    “The said neighbour, however, warned him to be careful. The deceased also called his mother and his younger sister complaining of threat to his life that fateful night.

    “The CP noted that not too long ago, a husband allegedly killed his wife and baby in Banana Island Lagos. He therefore advised couples to learn to resolve their matrimonial disputes without resorting to violence,” the statement read.

  • BREAKING: Judge sentences convicted senior lawyer to prison

    A senior Nigerian lawyer, Joseph Nwobike, who was earlier convicted has been sentenced to one month in prison.

    Nwobike was convicted on 12 counts of attempting to pervert justice.

    He was sentenced to one month in prison for each of the 12 counts. But because the sentences are to run concurrently, he would spend only one month in prison.

    Nwobike, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), was convicted by the Ikeja Division of the Lagos High Court on Monday.

    Justice Raliat Adebiyi, however, found the lawyer not guilty on offences of offering gratification to a judicial officer and making false declaration to an officer of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    Nwobike is being prosecuted by the EFCC.

     

    Details soon…

  • Get a lawyer before signing any contractual agreement- Korede Bello warns artistes

    Get a lawyer before signing any contractual agreement- Korede Bello warns artistes

    In recent times the Nigerian entertainment industry has been filled with tales of artistes and record labels at war over breach of contract.

    From Brymo to Asa, Debie Rise to Harrysong and now Runtown, these artistes have had to battle their record labels.

    Godwin crooner, Korede Bello has advised Nigerian artistes to involve a lawyer before signing a contractual agreement. Korede stated that it is dangerous to be ignorant.

    “Anyone going into a contractual agreement should consult a legal advisor or legal practitioner. You cannot just be ignorant; we are in a different world now. I have been there; I know what it means to just want something regardless of whatever it is. Make he just happen sharp sharp.

    Artistes coming up, established artistes, anybody it is very important that whenever you go into a contractual agreement, you need the presence of a lawyer”he told Hip TV.

    The rest of Africa should boycott Nigerian music- Huddah Monroe