Justice Binta Dogonyaro of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), sitting in Apo, Abuja, has issued a bench warrant for the arrest of an officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Jubrin Buba, for failing to appear before the court for his re-arraignment.
Buba is set to be re-arraigned by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on a six-count charge of forgery and making false statements.
The NSCDC officer was previously being prosecuted by the anti-graft agency before Justice Asma’u Akanbi at Kubwa, Abuja. However, following Justice Akanbi’s elevation to the Court of Appeal, the case was reassigned to Justice Dogonyaro to commence afresh (de novo).
The ICPC alleges that in February 2015, Buba fraudulently presented a fake BSc certificate in Public Administration, dated October 7, 2009, and purportedly issued by the University of Jos, to secure employment with the NSCDC. This act contravenes Section 366 of the Penal Code and is punishable under Section 364 of the same law.
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He is also accused of making a false statement to a public officer, contrary to Section 25 (1)(a) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
When the case came up on Wednesday for Buba’s re-arraignment, neither the defendant, his lawyer, nor his surety was present in court, and no reason was provided for their absence.
In light of this, ICPC counsel Mr. Aniekan Ekong expressed surprise over the absence of the defendant, his lawyer, and his surety, despite being duly notified.
The prosecuting counsel, therefore, urged the court to issue a bench warrant for Buba’s arrest and to summon the surety to show cause why the bail bond should not be forfeited to the Federal Government.
In her ruling, Justice Dogonyaro issued a bench warrant for the defendant’s arrest and adjourned the case to March 4 for arraignment and hearing.
