“Magu Boys”: Business Man Petitions NBA President, Against Abuja Based Lawyer, Victor Giwa For Extortion To The Tune Of N100M

Damijay Integrated Services Ltd has through Mr. Donald Wokoma, a Director in the company, petitioned the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) over an alleged extortion perpetrated by a Legal Practitioner, Victor Giwa, Esq., connected to the ongoing presidential panel investigation, investigating the suspended Acting Chairman of EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu.

This is contained in a petition dated 20th day of August, 2020 signed by him which was sighted by TheNigeriaLawyer (TNL).

“I am Mr. DONALD WOKOMA, a Director in Damijay Integrated Services Limited. Sometimes in 2018, I engaged the legal services of Victor Giwa, Esq. upon discovering that a restriction was placed on our account domiciled with Access Bank PLC (then Diamond Bank). After making his inquiry, Barrister Victor Giwa (whose phone number is: 08033072332) discovered and so informed me that it was at the instance of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission [EFCC] that the said restriction of ‘Post No Debit’ was slammed on the said account without a court order.”

Furthermore, he noted that pursuant to this development, the swiftly instituted an action before the FCT High Court before Hon. Justice O.C Agbaza in suit no FCT/HC/CV/2908/2018 wherein the Court ordered that the account be unfrozen.

Conversely, it was noted that the Lawyer alleged that the condition for unfreezing the account is to bring the sum of 75 million naira in which he wrote three cheques of 25 million naira each.

However, he further stated that the Lawyer came back to state that the initial amount had been rejected and a new offer of 40% of the total sum in the account is to be collected by EFCC totaling about 100 million naira.

Aggrieved by this, he wrote a petition to the Attorney General of the Federation through his Lawyer and wherein, he copied the presidential panel investigating Magu. Meanwhile, they were both invited before the panel.

Therefore, on 18th day of August, 2020 he confronted the Lawyer with a recorded audio of what transpired between the both of them.

“In the said recorded audio, Victor Giwa in trying to convince me to issue the cheques informed me that he has met with Mr. Ibrahim Magu on the matter and because of that he was ok.”

Meanwhile, before the panel, it was disclosed that the audio recording was played before the Lawyer, Magu and the petitioner’s Lawyer. Thus, he said the Lawyer admitted that he had never met with Magu.

In the light of the above, he prayed as follows:

“1. The Nigerian Bar Association investigates Barrister Victor Giwa in clear breach of Rule 14 of Rules of Professional Conduct, 2007, refused to oblige me with the documents pertaining to my case which I needed to support my petition to the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation despite my repeated demands to that effect and despite his professional duty of “responding as promptly as reasonably as possible to request for information by clients.”

2. The Nigerian Bar Association investigates why Barrister Victor Giwa, despite his professional duty “of devotion and dedication to the cause of his client and to act in manner consistent with the best interest of the client”, decided to join my oppressors to kneel on my neck despite the favourable Court judgement he was under a duty to enforce against my known adversaries.

3. The Nigerian Bar Association upon comprehensive investigation into those arrays of infamous conduct outlined herein and especially as contained in the supporting affidavit meets out appropriate sanctions against the person of Barrister Victor Giwa so as not to allow his odiferous conducts, being complained of here, drag the image of the entire legal profession to the mud of ignominy. “