Justice Modupe-Osho Adebiyi of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, on Tuesday, lashed out at some Ghanaian nationals for attempting to compromise her court in a 26-count criminal charge filed against them by the Nigeria Police.
The accused are Sam Jonah, Kojo Mensah and Victor Quianoo.
The police in Abuja, following the conclusion of investigations and consideration of a forensic report, had charged the Ghanaians to court over allegations of falsifying ownership documents of the highbrow River Park Estate.
The police alleged in the charge that the accused persons illegally increased share capital and used forged documents for companies such as Jonah Capital Nigeria Limited and Houses for Africa Nigeria Limited in an attempt to claim ownership of River Park Estate.
However, while their arraignment was still pending, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), directed that the criminal charges against the Ghanaian investors be put on hold and the case file transferred to his office.
Subsequently, on January 2, the AGF officially announced the termination of the proceedings, citing insufficient evidence to sustain the fraud and forgery allegations and stating that the accused persons had no case to answer.
In her ruling on Tuesday, Justice Modupe-Osho Adebiyi berated the accused persons for allegedly attempting to bribe her with money through the court registrar.
The visibly angry judge said she was not the type of person who could be bought to compromise cases before her, warning that such conduct would be severely punished if it occurred again.
Lawyers present in court took turns to express their dismay at the alleged attempt by persons standing trial to bribe a judge.
Meanwhile, following the notice of discontinuance of the trial filed by the office of the AGF, the judge said she was minded to strike out the charge against the accused Ghanaians and accordingly struck out the case.
