The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has freed a former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Patrick Akpobolokemi, over an alleged ₦8.5bn fraud brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Justice Ayokunle Faji acquitted and discharged the former NIMASA boss on Monday while ruling on a no-case submission filed by him and one other defendant, a staff of NIMASA, Josphine Otuaga, in the 22-count charge made against them.
Justice Faji held that the EFCC failed to establish a prima facie case against them.
The court also ruled that a former Commander of the Joint Task Force Operation Pulo Shield, Major-General Emmanuel Atewe (rtd), who is the (second defendant) and staff of NIMASA, Kime Engonzu (who is the third defendant), have to open their defence, as they have a case to answer especially with regards to counts 12 to 22 of the charge.
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Akpobolokemi had in a no-case submission filed by his lawyer, Joseph Nwobike, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, asked the court for an acquittal insisting that no case had been made against his client, requiring him to present a defence.
He maintained that the prosecution, with all its witnesses and the evidence tendered, failed to link him to the alleged offences.
Akpobolokemi was arraigned before the court in 2016 alongside a former Commander of the Joint Task Force Operation Pulo Shield, Major-General Emmanuel Atewe (rtd), and two other staff of NIMASA, Kime Engonzu and Josphine Otuaga.
The EFCC had prosecuted them on an amended 22-count charge bordering on conspiracy, conversion; and stealing by fraudulent conversion.
One of the counts reads: “That you, Patrick Ziadeke Akpobolokemi, Major General Emmanuel Atewe, Kime Engozu, and Josphine Otuaga sometime in 2014, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Court, with intent to defraud, conspired amongst yourselves to commit an offence to wit: Conversion of the sum of N8,537,586,798.58 property of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18 (a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2012 and punishable under Section 15 (3) of the same Act.”
They pleaded “not guilty” to the charges, prompting the start of their trial.
Following the prosecution’s presentation, all the defendants submitted a no-case argument.
In his verdict, Justice Faji stated that none of the witnesses presented by the prosecution provided any evidence linking the first defendant, Patrick Akpobolokemi, and the fourth defendant to the alleged offenses.
The court found that the prosecution failed to present credible evidence connecting the first defendant to the crimes, and the evidence presented for Counts 1-11 did not establish a prima facie case against him.
Additionally, the court observed that only one witness mentioned the name of the first defendant, while others stated they had no knowledge of him or any dealings with him.
Justice Faji emphasized that if there is insufficient evidence linking the accused to the essential elements of the charges, the court must discharge them.
Following the ruling, Akpobolokemi has been acquitted of 4 out of the 6 charges brought against him by the EFCC. Two charges remain pending, one before Justice Bukola Adebiyi of the Lagos High Court and another before Justice Faji.
