Mr. Lawal revealed this on Friday before Justice Hakeem Oshodi while giving evidence in the criminal trial of unlawful enrichment preferred against the embattled judge by the anti-graft agency Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia, a serving judge of the Federal High Court, is standing trial alongside a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Godwin Obla, who was accused of bribing her with N5m. The embattled judge and the SAN were arraigned on November 28, 2016, on 30 counts charges. Mr. Lawal, while being led in evidence of by the EFCC prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo, said that Ajumogobia tried desperately to contact most of the people she knew the anti-graft agency would invite for questioning, in connection to an investigation as to how she came about monies which the Commission alleged was above her lawful income. “Because she was under investigation, we wrote a letter to her employer, the National Judicial Commission request for a detailed breakdown of her salary and allowances.” “The NJC replied and it was discovered that her annual salary as at the time of the investigation was N5.3m while her allowances were N7.5m.” “When we asked Justice Ajumogobia about the transactions of $50,000, $70,000, $20000, $30000, and$55,000 traced to her Diamond bank account, she told us that the monies were proceeds from lands she sold in Benin and Asaba.” “She further informed the EFCC that her lawyer, one Grant Ezenwa helped her to sell the lands. But when Ezenwa was contacted, he claimed to have sold just a piece of land for her in Benin at the cost of N9.7m.” “We set out with Justice Ajumogobia to Benin to confirm the authenticity of her claims. On our way, we discovered that the judge was making desperate phone calls to some people.” “When we found out that she was interrupting our investigations, a mobile phone was seized from her.” “We also discovered two more hidden under her clothes. When we got to Benin, Ajumogobia denied knowing the location of her land and properties. In frustration, we decided to lodge in a hotel for the night. One of our operatives later found Ajumogobia making calls in the bathroom. We recovered an additional information three phones from her. “The next day on our way to Asaba, we recovered three more phones from her,” Lawal said. The EFCC operative further revealed that Justice Ajumogobia told the commission that it was only her brother Donald Ofili that knew where her properties were located. “When we contacted Mr. Donald, he also denied knowing where his sister’s properties were located. He said he cannot remember where the lands and properties are located,” Lawal added. Lawal is the twelfth prosecution witness of the EFCC to testify against Justice Ofili-Ajumogobia in her ongoing trial. Justice Oshodi thereafter adjourned the matter till January 26 for the continuation of trial. ]]>
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“History of Rivers State Judiciary: A Compendium of Personalities on the Bench.” Authored by Ampim Gogo Blankson, Esq., Deputy Director at the Rivers State Ministry of Justice, in collaboration with the Rivers State Judiciary
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[A MUST HAVE] Evidence Act Demystified With Recent And Contemporary Cases And Materials
