Posted by By OLA AGBAJE on
It was a double tragedy for a fleeing 419 convict in Lagos, as a court ordered that his multi-million naira property be disposed of and the proceeds given to his victim as restitution.
It was a double tragedy for a fleeing 419 convict in Lagos, as a court ordered that his multi-million naira property be disposed of and the proceeds given to his victim as restitution.
Bright Ezekuse was convicted eight years ago by Justice Eyamba Idem of the Miscellaneous Offences Tribunal for defrauding a German national, Marinder Bajwa, to the tune of 353,900 dollars in a hoax business transaction.
Ezekuse has, however, evaded serving 15 years prison term, having been granted questionable bail in 2000.
He was found in his house when the prosecution took steps to cost the value of his building in Ikotun to raise money to pay the victim. Sensing danger at the discovery of his presence in the country, Ezekuse developed wings and has since not been seen. However, the judge, who gave him the bail was sacked following a petition sent to the National Judicial Council (NJC) by the complainant.
Justice Yetunde Idowu gave the order directing the deputy sheriff of the court to dispose of the convict's property located in Ikotun, Ejigbo and Isolo areas of Lagos, following the applications by the prosecution and the victim.
The applications, among others, sought the court's order authorizing the sale of Ezekuse's buildings located at 16, Oludotun Shobunkola street, Ikotun, valued at N5 million, a hotel complex at 56, Association Avenue, Ikotun, valued at N52 million and the one at 35, Yusuff street, Ejigbo valued at N4.5 million.
Before granting the order to sell the property, Justice Idowu took time to review the history of the case and steps taken by her court to ensure that justice was done to the parties involved.
To ensure that the course of justice was not sacrificed, the court ordered that the defendant be served the substituted service, by pasting the court processes on his house and through advertisement in a national (daily) newspaper.
The judge also directed that a professional valuer be contracted, to ensure proper and correct value of the property, listed in the suit.
But in order to stall the sale of the property, the defendant brought application, which, among others, sought an order to stay the execution of the consequential order for payment of restitution, through the sales of his property as ordered by Justice Eyamba in the November 26, 1998, judgement.
Specifically, the defendant contended that he was not the owner of the property listed in the suit.
However, the claimants insisted that the defendant had fully exercised his right of appeal, which he lost in the Court of Appeal, which re-affirmed his conviction and the 15-years sentence earlier passed on him.
Besides, the claimants argued that efforts were made by the deputy sheriff and the prosecution to ensure that defendant's counsel witnessed the sale of the property, but because of the defendant's status as a fugitive convict, nobody was willing to be associated with him.
After reviewing the case, Justice Idowu dismissed Ezekuse's application seeking to perpetually stall the execution of the consequential order of restitution, as contained in the judgement of the Miscellaneous Offence Tribunal in 1998.
The trial judge noted that throughout the proceedings, the defendant did not appear in court, adding that no reason was given for his absence.
Besides, the court also noted that no explanation was given for the delay in bringing the application for stay of execution despite that it was served on time.
Consequently, the court held that there must be an end to litigation. 'Courts are not to deprive a successful litigant the fruits of its success and the machinery of justice is not to be used such as to amount to an abuse of the process of court."
In her reaction to the judgment, victim's representative, Freida Springer-Beck, expressed satisfaction at the outcome of the trial.
She said: 'though, it may be a bit late, the most important thing is that justice has been done and of course, the message that Nigeria is no longer a haven for fraudsters is also implied by the out come."