Cynthia Ukachukwu has been charged with contempt of court for failing to bring her husband, Augustine, for trial after he was granted bail by a magistrate’s court in Yaba, Lagos State. Augustine was freed on bail and was given to Cynthia. The state police command presented Ukachukwu with an accusation of one count of attempting to obstruct justice on Friday before Magistrate O. Y. Adefope. According to the prosecution, Haruna Magaji, Augustine, Ukachukwu’s spouse, was charged with collecting money via false pretenses and stealing N2.2 million from Grace Uzoigwe while pretending to be selling her a piece of property. According to The Punch, she and her spouse, who had assumed the identity of a priest, made a promise to the complainant, Uzoigwe, in March 2018 before the defendant was arraigned that. They persuaded her to transfer N2.2m into Augustine’s bank account in exchange for their selling her a piece of half constructed land. When the complaint realized she had been tricked, she began to ask for a refund, but Augustine threatened her, prompting the complainant to call the police. Magaji informed the court that on March 2, 2021, a Deputy Commissioner of Police released the defendant’s husband, Augustine, to the surety pursuant to a duly executed bail bond, with the condition that he always be accessible whenever the police authority needed his presence in the ongoing matter, a condition she failed to uphold prior to her arrest. According to Magaji, the offense was against the law and was sanctioned under Section 97 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2015.
The charge read,
“That you, Cynthia Ukachukwu, on March 2, 2021, at the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, State Criminal Investigation Department, M. A. K Smith Street, Panti, Yaba, Lagos, in the Yaba Magisterial District, did stand in as a surety for the bail of one Augustine Ukachukwu, involved in a case of obtaining money by false pretence and stealing wherein you undertake to produce the defendant at any time until the case is disposed of, but failed to produce him, an attempt to pervert the cause of justice and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 97 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2015.” However, the defendant pleaded not guilty to the one count preferred against her. Magistrate Adefope granted the defendant bail in the sum of N500.000 with two responsible sureties. Adefope adjourned the case till May 9, 2023.
