Court dismisses a cheating charge against a clergyman due to lack of diligent prosecution

On Thursday, a Chief Magistrate Court in Lokoja dismissed a case of cheating filed against a clergyman, Samson Abiodun, for a lack of diligent prosecution by the police.

On May 9, 2018, the police charged Abiodun, General Overseer of Calvary Love Ministry Church in Lokoja, with cheating.

In her decision, Chief Magistrate Beatrice Ezema dismissed the case outright for what she described as the Police’s “lack of diligent prosecution.”

Ezema was outraged and disgusted by the prosecution’s handling of the case.

She claimed that the case had been heard by five other Magistrates, including herself, for four years and that nothing had been done about it.

“One amazing aspect of this case is that it has been lingering since the time of my learned colleagues, Levi Ndah-Animoku, O. Alupka, A.O. Ayiniwero, H.O.Haruna, and now myself, and it is still in the hearing stage.”

“Surprisingly too, today, when the matter came up for hearing, the prosecution Counsels were still saying that they were not ready to continue with the hearing.

“This goes to show the lack of seriousness on the part of the prosecution. But all the same, Justice is a two way traffic.

“It’s on this note that this case is hereby struck out for lack of diligent prosecution. The accused is hereby discharged, ” the Magistrate declared.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that earlier, when the matter came up for hearing, the prosecution Counsel, Miss Bose Briamoh, told the court that the prosecution was not ready to proceed with the matter.

“My Lord, although this matter is scheduled for hearing today, it’s unfortunate that we can’t continue due to some snags we’re experiencing as we try to get our house in order.”

“I’m afraid we’ll have to ask for another date, My Lord, so that we can get our house in order and begin the hearing of this case properly,” Briamoh said.

According to NAN, a Police First Information Report (FIR) stated that on May 9, 2018, one Asala Stephen-Ropo reported to the Police in Lokoja that the clergyman collected N1.5 million from him to purchase a 50ft x 100ft plot of land in Lokoja sometime in November 2017.

However, when he (Stephen-Ropo) visited the location in January 2018, he discovered that the clergyman had sold the same plot to another person without his consent.

According to the police, the offense violates Section 322 of the Kogi Penal Code Law.