Court sends Rivers ex-LG chair back to prison

THE Magistrates’ Court of Rivers State sitting in Port Harcourt has ordered that the former Chairman of Asari-Toru Local Government Area of the state, Mr. Ojukaye Amachree should remain in prison till May 4, 2016 when it will reconvene for the Director of Public Prosecution’s advice.

The Chief Magistrate, I. O. Agbesor, had on Wednesday remanded Ojukaye temporally till Thursday when it ruled on the issue of jurisdiction.

However, at the resumed sitting on Thursday, Agbesor ruled that he lacked the power to entertain the matter, adding that the charges against the accused were capital offences.

But the chief magistrate asserted that he was empowered by the provisions of the Criminal Miscellaneous Procedure Law of Rivers State section 3 and 4, respectively, to remand an accused person pending DPP’s report.

Agbesor, thereby, ordered that the original case file be remitted to DPP while the accused person remained in prison till 4th May for the advice.

“Ordinarily, I would have considered the issues raised by the defence counsel, but based on legal position, Section 3 and 4 of Criminal Miscellaneous Procedure Law of Rivers State, the accused is hereby remanded in prison and the case file be sent to DPP.

“The argument of the defence counsel lacks merit and legal content. So, the defence application is struck out. The original case file be deposited to the court registrar and be remitted to the DPP for advice,” he ruled.

Amachree, who is also a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, was arraigned in court by the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Musa Kimo, for alleged murder of one Mr. Smart Soberekon in his (Amachree) LGA.

Amachree is facing two counts bordering on felony and murder of the Soberekon.

Meanwhile, the counsel for the accused person, Mr. Ken Atsuete, described the ruling of the chief magistrate as wrong.

Atsuete, who spoke with newsmen shortly after the ruling, stressed that it was wrong for an accused person to be remanded without taking a plea.

He disclosed that the ruling of the court would be tested through more legal means.

“The court has given a ruling and the ruling of the court is clearly that a Magistrate Court does not have jurisdiction, but, said never-the-less that he has the power to remand under the Criminal Miscellaneous Procedure Law of Rivers State.

“The magistrate said he has exercised that power and that he has decided to order that the defendant be remanded even though we feel that it is a wrong decision because the plea of the defendant has not been taken.