Lloyd, who was arraigned on six counts of attempted murder, conspiracy, assault and malicious damage, arrived at the court about 10.52am accompanied by riot policemen and other security operatives.
Clad in blue attire, the lawmaker limped as he entered the court premises, supported by two unidentified persons.
During the hearing, the prosecution counsel, Mr. Donald De-wigwe (SAN), objected to the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Worgu Boms’ plea to take over the criminal proceeding.
“Judicially, the argument does not stand. It is not a law of today. The issue is that whether or not there is a criminal proceeding before the court. Until plea is taken, there is still nothing for the attorney-general to takeover”, said De-wigwe
“I stand here by the powers conferred on me by Section 211(1)(b) of the 1999 Constitution to take over the prosecution of the matter between the Commissioner of Police and Chidi Lloyd”, Boms had earlier noted
Also, Lloyd’s lead counsel, Mr. Beluolisa Nwofor (SAN), who objected to the appearance of De-wigwe and other lawyers for the prosecution.
Nwofor said, “I object to De-wigwe’s appearance for prosecution. He is not a police officer, but a private practitioner. The law requires that for a private practitioner to appear in a criminal charge by the Commissioner of Police, he should tender a fiat from the Attorney-General of the state.
“I urge the court to expunge the appearance of all the lawyers announced by the SAN, except J.C.A. Ideachaba, a Superintendent of Police, who filed the information.”
He argued that the letter presented to the court by De-wigwe was not enough as far as the law was concerned.
De-wigwe, however, disagreed saying the state Commissioner of Police initiated the charge not the state Attorney-General.
Justice Nyordee adjourned the case till August 6, 2013 to rule on the submissions of the opposing counsel as it concerned the declaration for a takeover of the criminal proceedings by the Attorney-General.
No comments:
Post a Comment