Justice Umaru Fadawu of the Borno State High Court has ordered the remand of Dookenger Odey Takon at the correctional centre in Maiduguri till the court resumes hearing on the case on October 6, 2021.
This follows the plea by the defence counsel, Ibrahim Ngada, for the court to adjourn the matter to enable him study the amended charges.
Dookenger Odey Takon was arraigned before the Borno State High Court on Friday, on four-count amended charges by the Maiduguri zonal command of the EFCC.
Head of Media and Publicity of the Commission, Wilson Uwajaren, in a Press release, stated that the charges bordered on “cheating, forgery, issuance of dud cheque and obtaining by false pretence to the tune of N12,759,169.00 (Twelve Million, Seven Hundred and Fifty Nine Thousand, One Hundred and Sixty Nine Naira).
“Dookenger was re-arraigned alongside her company, X-Traordinaire Designs Ltd.,” Uwajaren added.
He said the woman was first arraigned on 28th October, 2020 on four counts, for which she pleaded ‘not guilty;’ but at the resumed hearing on Friday, the prosecution counsel, Mukhtar Ahmed, informed the court of the amended charge and asked that the defendant be invited to take her plea.
Justice Fadawu granted the prayer of the prosecution counsel, but Dookenger pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Count one of the amended charge reads: “That you, Dookenger Odey Takon, being a Managing Director of X-Traordinaire Designs Ltd and alter ego of X-Traordinaire Designs Ltd and X-Traordinaire Ltd, a company registered in Nigeria sometime in September, 2018 at Maiduguri, Borno State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud the sum of N10,500, 000.00 (Ten Million Five Hundred Thousand Naira) only, from one Abatcha Anas under the false pretence that the sum represented payment for the execution of a purported contract of constructing a Mopol container and store awarded to X-Traordinaire Designs Ltd by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), International Organisation for Migration (IOM) which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006 and Punishable under 1(3) of the same Act.”
Count two reads: “That you, Dookenger Odey Takon being a Managing Director and alter ego of X-traordinaire Designs Ltd and X-traordinaire Ltd, a company registered in Nigeria, sometime in September, 2018 at Maiduguri, Borno State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, dishonestly induced one Abatcha Anas to deliver to you Home Appliances (Electronics) worth N2,259,169.00 (Two Million Two Hundred and Fifty Nine Thousand, One Hundred and Sixty Nine Naira) only, by issuing to him a Zenith Bank Plc cheque of X-traordinaire Designs Ltd dated 25th September 2018 covering the value for the said electronics, which when presented was not honoured and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 320(a) and Punishable under 322 of the Penal Code Cap 102 Laws of Borno State”.