There was drama on Thursday at a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, as the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) approached the court seeking to take over the case against the former governor of Imo State, Ikedi Ohakim, on criminal charges of a threat to the life of his mistress, Chinyere Amuchienwa.
The court had earlier slated Thursday for the arraignment of the former governor but a counsel from the office of the AGF, Bagudu Sani, approached the Court, saying the office of the AGF had taken over the case by a letter dated March 17, 2021, which he said had been served on the IGP.
According to Sani, the office of the AGF took over the case from the IGP to ensure that the prosecution was done diligently.
However, counsel for the police, Rufus Dimka, opposed the taking over of the case by the office of AGF, noting that the charges against the former governor were prepared by the office of the IGP, who is the complainant in the case.
In response, Justice Taiwo Taiwo told Sani that he had taken judicial notice of the letter but maintained that the counsel should file the letter formally before the court.
He deferred the arraignment of the former governor to May 6, 2021, to enable parties to file and serve written addresses on the property of the office of the AGF taking over the case from the Police.
Ohakim has been on police administrative bail since November 11, 2020, when he and one Chinedu Okpareke were dragged to court by the police over allegations of threat to life and the harassment of Amuchienwa.
According to the charge number, FHC/ABJ/CS/287/2020, Ohakim and Okpareke were alleged to have threatened to release a nude photograph of Amuchienwa if she fails to drop charges of attempted kidnap against them.
The Police in the five counts dated November 25, 2020, alleged that Ohakim and Okpareke, knowingly and intentionally transmitted communication through a computer system to harass and bully Amuchienwa, an offence that is punishable under Section 24(1)(a) of the Cybercrime Act 2015.
