Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
A Federal Capital Territory High Court in Maitama, Abuja, has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of an Abuja‑based lawyer, Victor Giwa, and a police officer, Inspector Edith Erhunmuuse, for repeatedly failing to appear for their arraignment in an alleged N300 million illegal eviction case. Justice Samira Bature granted the order on Friday, April 24, 2026, after the prosecution convinced the court that the defendants’ persistent absence was a deliberate tactic to delay justice. The case, marked FCT/HC/CR/222/2023, was filed in January 2023 but has yet to move beyond the arraignment stage due to the defendants’ systematic non‑appearance.
The defendants are facing a nine‑count charge filed by the Office of the Attorney‑General of the Federation. The charge sheet accuses them of criminal conduct including the forceful eviction of occupants from a property in the high‑brow Mekong Street area of Maitama, Abuja, and malicious damage to the property valued at N300 million. Also charged alongside Giwa and Inspector Erhunmuuse is Cecil Osakwe, a property developer. The alleged offences are said to have taken place sometime in 2022, with the defendants accused of conspiring to break into the residence of one Ms. Asabe Waziri with the assistance of police officers now at large, carting away her belongings, including her international passport and cash, without her consent.
At Friday’s resumed hearing, prosecuting counsel Aderonke Imana, who is representing the Federal Government, informed the court that the charge had been pending for over three years without arraignment. She described a “systematic pattern of absence” by the second and third defendants, Giwa and Erhunmuuse, noting that either the first defendant, Osakwe, was absent, or the second defendant was missing. “It is unfortunate that the second and third defendants are absent again today. This case has followed a consistent pattern of delay, particularly by the second defendant,” Imana told the court. She urged the court to invoke Sections 113 and 114 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, to compel the defendants’ appearance. “We cannot continue to come to court only to ask for adjournments,” she submitted.
Counsel for the second defendant, Ogbu Aboje, opposed the application, informing the court that his client was absent due to illness and that a medical report had been submitted. He also noted that there were pending applications before the court, including one dated February 2, 2026, which he argued were ripe for hearing. He asked the court to dispense with his client’s appearance in view of the pending applications.
Justice Bature, however, was not persuaded. In her ruling, the judge noted that she had carefully reviewed the court records, including the series of letters and medical reports submitted by the second defendant. “I am in agreement with the prosecution that these are mere delay tactics, particularly by the second defendant, who, as a legal practitioner, ought to know better,” she said. The judge observed that the matter had been pending for nearly two years, having been first listed before her court on July 16, 2024. “Unfortunately, up till today, being the 24th day of April, 2026, approaching two years now, arraignment has not been possible for one reason or the other,” she noted. “Courts are not for play; they are for serious business. The defendants have repeatedly failed to appear for their arraignment and have shown disregard for the authority of this court,” Justice Bature held.
Addressing the conduct of the third defendant, Inspector Erhunmuuse, the judge noted that she had appeared only once in the case and had since stayed away. The court registrar had been instructed to write to the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria to secure representation for her, but the court was reliably informed that she had declined the offer. The judge further observed that the third defendant had previously insinuated that the prosecution was delaying the trial, but the record clearly showed otherwise.
Justice Bature also rejected the argument that the court should entertain pending applications before arraignment, holding that “the position of the law, as rightly pointed out by the learned prosecution counsel, is that jurisdiction of the court in criminal matters is activated after a valid arraignment.” She noted that the court had previously exercised restraint and declined to issue a bench warrant in consideration of the fact that the second defendant was a lawyer. However, the continued absence left the court with no option. “On Mr. Aboje’s submissions that there are pending applications, particularly the one dated February 2, 2026, let me state that the court cannot properly handle the case until the defendants are arraigned, rendering all pending applications premature,” she ruled.
The judge thereafter granted the prosecution’s application and issued a bench warrant for the arrest of the second and third defendants. She ordered Giwa and Inspector Erhunmuuse to be arrested and brought to court to take their plea. The case was adjourned to April 29, 2026, for arraignment.
The allegations against Giwa, Erhunmuuse, and Osakwe, which include conspiracy, unlawful eviction, criminal intimidation, threat to life, and malicious damage to property, are said to be contrary to Sections 96, 97, 326 and 327 of the Penal Code Law. The prosecution maintains that the defendants conspired to unlawfully break into the residence of Ms. Asabe Waziri, carting away her belongings, including her international passport and cash, without her consent. The investigation is being conducted by the Office of the Attorney‑General of the Federation, and the case has drawn attention due to the involvement of a legal practitioner and a serving police officer. With the bench warrant now issued, the court expects the defendants to be produced for arraignment on the next adjourned date, where they will be formally charged.
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