This past weekend, three people were charged with giving the police false information about the murder of a man named Mr. Tochukwu Onyemelukwe in Nanka, Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State.
The males, Mr. Joseph Omegha, Godson Oforkansi, and Martin Okeke, were charged in a case with charge number MCNA/61923, and appeared in court before Chioma Ikejiofor on Friday. Mr. Jacob Enemuo, a fourth defendant, was unable to attend court due to health issues.
In a petition they submitted to the AIG on the passing of community member Onyemelukwe in 2021, the men were charged with providing false information to police.
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Part of the information on the charge sheet read: “That you Joseph Omegha ‘m’, Godson Oforkansi ‘m’, Martin Okeke ‘m’ and Jacob Enemuo ‘m’, sometimes in the month of December, 2021 conspired among yourselves to commit a misdeamanor to wit: giving false information to a public servant, and you thereby committed an offence punishable under 496(a) of the Criminal Code Law, Cap. 36, vol. II, Revised Laws of Anambra State of Nigeria, 1991, as amended.
“You did with intention to mislead a public officer, wrote a petition to the Assistance Inspector-General of Police, FCID annex Enugu, alleging that one Emmanuel Ezeobi, Kosiochukwu Ezechukwu and others, murdered one Tochukwu Onyemelukwe in a broad daylight, the fact you know to be false.
“You did conduct yourselves in a manner likely to cause a breach of public peace when, without any concrete evidence and out of malice, you falsely accused one Emmanuel Ezeobi, Kosiochukwu Ezechukwu and others of killing one Tochukwu Onyemelukwe.”
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The men entered a not guilty plea to each allegation. The case was put on hold until September 29 so that pleas and motions could be made.
In the meantime, Mr. Kyije Abang, the complainant’s attorney and the Inspector General of Police, told press that the court had awarded the defendants N50,000 in costs despite his demand for N100,000 for the defendant’s counsel’s failure to appear.
Meanwhile, counsel to the defendant, who later came to court after adjournment, said: “I was coming to court when my car broke down because of the bad road. The magistrate has already asked me to apply for the cost to be waived. As for providing false information, that is what the court is here to ascertain. There is nothing like false information.”
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