THE TRUTH THAT REV. CHRIS OKOTIE & THE MAGISTRATE TRIED TO KILL Call it intrigues, drama, Africa Magic, America Wonder or ‘Abracadabra’ you will still be in order. Only those and such like terms can best describe what happened on friday 10th of may 2013 in the case of assault and threat to life that Rev chris Okotie instituted against his ex pianist popularly known as Dafphee. At the last sitting, Mr Robert Igbenedion, councel to the defendant Mr Okiotor Dafiaghor popularly known as dafphee, had applied to the court to summon Rev Chris Okotie to come and tell the court what he knows about the case of assault he (Okotie) brought against Dafphee. One of okotie’s witnesses, Mr Niyi Ajayi had told the court in his testimony that only Rev Chris Okotie has access to the recordings of the security cameras and all the security gadgets are situated in okotie’s office. According to Niyi Ajayi, only Rev Chris Okotie can grant access to the said materials. Mr Igbenedion relied on section 177 (1) of the administration of criminal justice law of lagos state 2011 which states ‘If the Court is satisfied that any person is likely to give material evidence for the prosecution or for the defence, the Court may issue a summons for such person requiring him to attend, at a time and place to be mentioned in the summons, before the Court to give evidence in respect of the case and to bring with him any specified documents or things and any other documents or things relating which may be in his possession or power or under his control’ . Based on the strength of the afore mentioned, the defense applied that Mr Okotie Chris should be summoned to court as the only DEFENSE WITNESS and not as the prosecution witness. Curiously however, Rev Chris Okotie who was listed as the chief witness and complainant has been shielded from coming to testify. According to Mr Robert Igbenedion, this whole case surrounds the person of Mr Chris Okotie. He is the one that was assaulted. He is the one that pettitioned the police. He is the one that has the video evidence from the security cameras. He is the one that was prevented from preaching and he is the pastor of the church whose service was disrupted and who better than him to give evidence? The only people that cannot be summoned to testify in any court of law are the President, vice president, governors and deputy governors and Mr Chris Okotie does not fall within this category of people with immunity as stated in section 308 of the 1999 constitution. The Ruling The magistrate, Mrs Makanju Oshodi in her ruling said there is no law that says the prosecution must be compelled to present a witness so she is rejecting the application. She deliberately misrepresented the application of the defense councel who is seeking to have Mr Chris Okotie as a DEFENSE WITNESS and not a prosecution witness. The defense never mentioned the prosecution in the application. She also never mention the sections of laws that the defense quoted. We also remember that she had said before that the court was hers and she can run it anyway she pleases. Obviously not according to any known laws in nigeria. The defense lawyer, Mr Igbenedion was however short of words and he wondered what application the magistrate based her ruling on. He said that there is no mention of prosecution in his application and for the magistrate to mention that is beyond his comprehension. We did not ask that the prosecution to present Mr Okotie as their witness. We asked the court that Mr Okotie should come to court as the DEFENSE WITNESS so he could present the video recordings of what actually happened on that day. By her ruling, the magistrate has just denied the defendant the only witness and the material evidence he needs to prove his innocence and this is against the rule of law and natural justice.The defendant has just been denied the right to fair hearing. He has been put up for crucifixion. Okotie’s Lawyer is very angry Mr Kola Dopamu, one of the lawyers holding watching brief for Mr Chris Okotie told the court that he wants to bring to the court’s notice a publication by an international online news magazine called SAHARA REPORTERS. He said that he is so mad and angry about the publication by sahara reporters. Your honour, Sahara Reporters are X-raying the way you are handling the proceedings of the this case. My name was mentioned in their reportage and I take serious exception to it. We believe the defendant is supplying these information to the online news outfit as well as publishing other stories concerning this case. Defendant Responds The defendant responded to the accusation thus: your honour, i do not own or operate a publishing firm or company. I don’t know what he is talking about saying i am publishing materials. I am not a publisher. This is an open court so anyone, includiong okotie and his team can record anything and send to the press. Robert Igbenedion added, your honour, could the prosecution concentrate on their case instead of bringing irrelevant issues to court. Sahara Reporters is a New York based news outfit that reports events all over the world. They report stories from Burma to Somali to Afghanistan and even Maiduguri. All the prosecution is interested in is jailing my client. They are hoping to nail my client by hook or by crook. The magistrate, however dismissed the application saying that she has no proof of what Okotie’s lawyer is talking about and she would not like to get involved in hearsay and isssues that dont concern the court. Mr Kola Dopemu then said that he needs some protection from the defendant. I am no longer safe. I now live in fear. But the magistrate insisted she would not be drawn into personal issues. She wondered why those who call themselves christians cannot settle the matter within their church. This matter is getting more embarrassing. I really hope you people can settle this out of court. If you insist on getting court justice you shall. She then adjourned for the 30th of may for trial to continue. Joe Tom Crazynews24
Posted on: Sat, 22 Jun 2013 14:20:08 +0000
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