An Ikeja High Court has jailed a lawyer, Kenneth Chukwuemeka Ajoku, for seven years for offences of perjury and fabrications of evidence.
Justice Mojisola Dada, who handed down the judgement in a case filed against the lawyer by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, however gave the convict an option of paying penalty of N2.5 million.
The lawyer’s problem aroused from a fact received by the EFCC in 2017 about a group of fraudsters accused of selling Federal Government properties.
The convict and his cohorts were invited to the Commission upon Investigations by EFCC but he turned down the invitation, rather he approached the high court for reprive.
Efforts to get him to respond to the allegations proved abortive as visits to his office yielded no results.
After these, Ajoku approached the court from where he swore to an affidavit on oath, which became his albatross that he was arrested and detained by the operatives of the Commission on May 4, 2017, while also demanding the sum of N300,000,000.00 (Three Hundred Million Naira) as damages.
The Court declined the application and ordered him to present himself for investigation by the EFCC. Thereafter, he also approached the Court of Appeal, Lagos Division, with false facts to frustrate the investigation by the Commission.
The appellate court found no merit in his appeal and dismissed same.
Following the window shoppings in the courts, the EFCC brought a formal charge of two-count bordering on perjury and fabrication of evidence, pursuant to the provisions of Sections 85(1) 86(1) and 88(1) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2011 against him and he subsequently pleaded not guilty to the charge.
During the trial, the prosecution counsel, Franklin Ofoma, called three witnesses and tendered several documents that were admitted in evidence by the court.
In her judgement, Justice Mojisola Dada found him guilty on counts one and two and sentenced him to seven years imprisonment, with an option of fine of N2.5m (Two Million Five Hundred Thousand Naira).
