By Drama As Court Grants Onomade Administrative Bail On Health Grounds, To Submit Passport With Court Registrar
It was a mild drama on Friday, February 18, 2022, at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi when Presiding Judge, Honourable Justice F.O. Faji, handling the case of false accusation of Fatiu Salisu, the former Chairman of Ijede Ijede Local Council Development Area in Lagos State, of being involved in the murder of late Tony Godfrey threatened to remand Oluwatosin Onamade, the Chief Executive Officer, Western Funeral Home Limited in prison for taking the leniency of the court for granted.
In the suit instituted by the Inspector – General of Police, the Judge who granted Onamade, a former Chairmanship aspirant, Ijede Local Council Development Area (LCDA), administrative bail on health grounds was almost provoked to want to reclined his lenient consideration when the Lawyer to Onamade, Barr. Olatunji Oshikoya informed the Court, the police were harassing his client.
Appearing before the Judge, Onomade had presented evidence of his being admitted at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital for two days due to a cardiovascular diagnosis upon which the Judge said having sighted the evidence and list of drugs worth more than N100,000 that Onomade bought, he would be allowed to fulfil the terms of his administrative bail with the police and submit his passport to the Registrar of the court.
Following the bail granted, Onomade’s lawyer further called the attention of the Court to issues of harassment by the police and journalists and wanted the Presiding Judge to caution the police. However, this did not sit well with the Judge who felt the lawyer was taking his empathy for the sick accused for granted.
“My Lord, as we Speaker, his (Onomade) phone is with the police in Abuja, they have been using police to harass him and they send journalists after him now and then,” Barr. Oshikoya complained to the Judge.
Responding to the complaints, the Judge who looked baffled by the position of Onamade’s lawyer asked if he should be remanded in prison and be allowed to take his drugs where safe away from police harassment.
“Since they (Police) are harassing him, we remand him then, we keep him somewhere safe,” the Judge said rhetorically.
“You are biting more than you can chew and you are taking my sympathy or empathy for this man (Onomade) for granted. I will remand him in prison, then they will give him his drugs in prison,” he added.
The obviously embarrassed lawyer quickly retracted the complaint with apologies thereby saving his client from heading to prison.
Earlier during the proceeding, Onamade, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and a former Ijede Chairmanship aspirant had pleaded not guilty to the two counts charges in the suit FHC/1/32C/202, which reads;
“That you, Oluwatosin Onamade M, sometimes in May 2021 in Lagos within the jurisdiction of the honourable Court did commit an illegal act to wit; intentionally circulating a grossly offensive propagation through your Facebook/ Instagram handle which you knew to be false for the purpose of causing insult to one Hon. Fatiu Salisu, ijede LCDA chairman by accusing him of the murder of late Tony Godfrey, you thereby committed an offence punishable under section 24 of the Cybercrimes Act, 2015,” the charge reads in part.
“That you, Oluwatosin Onamade M, sometimes in May 2021 in Lagos within jurisdiction of honourable Court knowingly cost the transmission of communication through your WhatsApp to harass one Hon. Fatiu Salisu, ijede LCDA chairman by falsely alleging that he sponsored the attack at Western funeral home limited office and murder of late Tony Godfrey, you thereby committed an offence punishable under section 24(2)(a) of the Cybercrimes Act, 2015.”
The Presiding Judge while adjourning the matter to March 8, 2022, mandated that Onomade drop his passport with the court within 48-hours and continue on the administrative bail already granted by the police stating that he can be rearrested if he fails the terms and conditions of his bail.
