he High Court of the Federal Capital Territory has struck out the criminal charge filed against Ghanaian investors behind JonahCapital Ltd and a Nigerian lawyer in connection with the River Park Estate controversy.
Delivering the ruling on Tuesday, Justice Modupe-Osho Adebiyi acted on an application brought by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), thereby terminating the prosecution initiated by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP).
Counsel to the AGF, Aishatu Kalthungo, informed the court that she had received directives to discontinue the matter pursuant to the AGF’s constitutional powers under Section 174 of the 1999 Constitution, which empowers the Attorney-General to withdraw criminal proceedings at any stage before judgment.
The defence did not oppose the application, and the court accordingly struck out the charge.
The criminal proceedings stemmed from allegations of forgery and the purported illegal allocation of 99 million shares linked to River Park Estate, a high-profile real estate development in Abuja.
The defendants included three Ghanaian, namely; Samuel Esson Jonah, Mr. Kojo Ansah Mensah, Mr. Victor Quainoo (all Ghanaian nationals) and Mr. Abu Arome, Esq., a Nigerian lawyer
Prior to the ruling, the AGF had ordered a review of police actions in relation to the dispute. The Justice Ministry faulted the findings of the IGP Monitoring Unit, describing them as misleading and insufficient to establish criminal liability.
The AGF maintained that the police had attempted to criminalise a commercial dispute involving ownership, shareholding, and contractual obligations, contrary to Section 8(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015.
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It was further noted that the police lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate issues of land ownership or contractual disagreements.
The AGF also instructed the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to rescind administrative actions taken on the basis of what was termed a discredited police report.
In light of these findings, the AGF directed the termination of the criminal charges and cautioned against steps that could undermine ongoing judicial proceedings.
