The First
Information Report obtained by our correspondent said on November 28, 2016, at
about 5.20pm, one Oyetunji reported that the Nigeria Bar Association received
complaints from some individuals alleging that one Mr. I. T. David, who
practised as a legal practitioner in the state was not an authentic lawyer.
The police in
Kwara State have arrested a man, Mr. Peter Adogun, for alleged impersonation
and use of forged documents.
It added that Adogun was
apprehended by the police while appearing as a legal practitioner before the
Area Court 1, Ilorin, and was subsequently transferred to the State Criminal
Investigation and Intelligence Department for a discreet investigation.
The FIR said investigation
conducted by the SCIID revealed the real name of the suspect as Peter Adogun
and not Inufin Taiwo David, whom he impersonated.
The report further stated
that photocopies of certificates of Inufin Taiwo David presented by the accused
as his own were credentials the suspect allegedly deceitfully collected from a
lawyer by the name who practised in Abuja.
He allegedly collected the
documents on the pretext of assisting the original owner in securing employment
in an oil company.
The FIR said, “It was
further revealed that Adogun practised and appeared in several matters in all
levels of Nigerian courts up to the Supreme Court with the adopted name of ‘Bar
I.T. David.’ The suspect has also prepared and signed several legal documents
and court processes in the same adopted name.
“In another development,
the suspect failed to report back to the police when requested to do so
following the administrative bail given to him on November 29, 2016, while
investigating the allegation against him.
“However, he was later
re-arrested in the attic of his house at about 8am on January 7, 2017, after a
prolonged manhunt for him. At the point of his arrest at his residence on ‘F’
Division Police Station Road, Tanke, Ilorin, a complete set of a legal
practitioner’s robe which included one set of a lawyer’s gown, wig and beep
were seized.
“Other incriminating items
relating to his fraudulent practice as a legal practitioner, which include
legal books, complementary cards in his adopted name, bundles of cash receipts
for his practice, copies of legal processes in various courts prepared and
filed by him, and several other incriminating items relating to his fraudulent
legal practice, were recovered from him.”
The FIR said when the
actual David was contacted by the police, he confirmed knowing the suspect as a
land speculator in Abuja.
He said he was not aware
that he had been using his documents to practise law.
The police report said
investigation revealed that Adogun was not a legal practitioner as he claimed,
and did not undertake any law programme in any institution.
The suspect was
subsequently arraigned before a Magistrate’s Court in Ilorin.
When the matter came up on
Wednesday at the court presided over by Mrs. I.O. Olawoyin, a Principal Inspector
of Prisons from the Mandella Maximum Prison, Ilorin, Mr. Samuel Bobinihi, said
the accused was ill and had been taken to a hospital.
The Chief State Counsel,
Mr. Ayoola Akande, said he had been informed that the accused was medically
unfit.
He added that if indeed he
was ill, he expected a medical report to be presented to the court.
The magistrate said
although there was no medical report of the accused before the court, the
prisons service should take him to a hospital for proper medical attention so
that he would be fit to defend himself.
The matter was adjourned
till February 16, 2017, for mention.
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