The lawyer who decided to throw his weight behind billionaire kidnapper, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, more popularly known as Evans and defend him, has b
The lawyer who decided to throw his weight behind billionaire kidnapper, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, more popularly known as Evans and defend him, has been unmasked. His name is Voice Olukoya Ogungbeje. He heads Lawflex Chambers and is the Chairman of Voice Vanguard, known for taking up very unpopular cases.
Evans who is seeking his fundamental human rights dragged the Inspector General of Police, and three others before a Federal High Court in Lagos over his alleged illegal detention. Joined as respondents are the Nigeria Police Force, Commissioner of Police Lagos State, and the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Lagos State Police Command. He is seeking a court order directing the respondents to immediately charge him to court if there is any case against him. He is in the alternative, seeking an order, compelling the respondents to immediately release him unconditionally in the absence of any offence warranting a charged.
In a 27-paragraph affidavit in support of the motion deposed to by Evan’s father, Stephen Onwuamadike, it was averred that the applicant has been subjected to media trial without any court’s order by the respondents. Onwuamadike further averred that the media trial and news orchestrated by the respondents have continued to generate reactions in both print and electronic media without his son being afforded fair hearing before a court of law.
The deponent also averred that since his son’s arrest, all his family members have been denied access to him while media practitioners have been granted unfettered access to him. However, the new suit has not been assigned to any judge and no date has been fixed for the hearing.
Known for courting controversial cases, Ogunbeje had in April this year, filed a suit asking the Federal High Court to stay proceedings on the forfeiture of $43,449,947 (about N13billion), N23,218,000 and £27,800 (about N10.6 million) found in a flat in Ikoyi, Lagos. He also sought an order directing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to furnish the court with a report of its preliminary or final investigation on the source of the money, its owner, and how the currencies got into the building.
Ogungbeje, in a motion on notice asked the court not to order a permanent forfeiture of the money since there are claims and counter claims as to its ownership by the Rivers State government and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA)and since the Federal Government had set up the Osinbajo panel to find the truth about the ownership of the money. The case did not get anywhere as the money was later permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
Before then, in 2014, Ogungbeje filed a suit in Lagos asking for the reinstatement of Murtala Nyako as governor of Adamawa state. This was after Nyako was impeached by the state assembly in July of the same year and the speaker of the state assembly had taken over. Again, the case hit the rocks.
NAN
