A woman identified as Cynthia Ukachukwu has been arraigned before a Magistrate’s Court sitting in Yaba, Lagos State for her failure to produce her husband, Augustine, before the court for trial after he was released to her on bail.
Ukachukwu was arraigned by the state police command before Magistrate O. Y Adefope on Friday, on one count of an attempt to pervert justice.
According to the prosecutor, Haruna Magaji, Ukachukwu’s husband, Augustine, was arraigned for obtaining money by false pretences and stealing N2.2m from one Grace Uzoigwe under the pretence of selling a parcel of land to her.
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According to The Punch, before the arraignment of the defendant, she and her husband, who disguised as a pastor, in March 2018, promised the complainant, Uzoigwe, that they would sell a parcel of land that was partially developed to her, and convinced her to pay N2.2m into Augustine’s bank account.
It was learnt that when the complainant noticed that she had been duped, she started asking them for a refund but Augustine started threatening her which made her report the case to the police.
Magaji told the court that the defendant’s husband, Augustine, was released to the surety through a duly signed bail bond by a Deputy Commissioner of Police on March 2, 2021, with a promise to always be available whenever the police authority needed his presence in the pending matter, a promise she failed to uphold before her arrest.
According to Magaji, the offence contravened and is punishable under Section 97 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2015.
The charge read, “That you, Cynthia Ukachukwu, on March 2, 2021, at the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, State Criminal Investigation Department, M. A. K Smith Street, Panti, Yaba, Lagos, in the Yaba Magisterial District, did stand in as a surety for the bail of one Augustine Ukachukwu, involved in a case of obtaining money by false pretence and stealing wherein you undertake to produce the defendant at any time until the case is disposed of, but failed to produce him, an attempt to pervert the cause of justice and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 97 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2015.”
However, the defendant pleaded not guilty to the one count preferred against her.
Magistrate Adefope granted the defendant bail in the sum of N500.000 with two responsible sureties. Adefope adjourned the case till May 9, 2023.
