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Court orders IG to arrest Fidelis and Noel Anosike

By on July 24, 2011

A Lagos High Court in Ikeja on Thursday issued a bench warrant on Directors of Folio Communications Limited, Mr. Fidelis Anosike and Mr. Noel Anosike, and ordered the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Hafiz Ringim, to arrest and produce the two brothers before the court at its next sitting on September 28.

Justice Habeeb Abiru gave the order after the accused persons failed to appear before the court to face charges for allegedly stealing N1.7 billion belonging to Daily Times.

However, spokesman to the Folio Communications Ltd, Ayodeji Seriki while reacting to the development in a statement was emphatic that his boss had been away and was not aware of any court action against the company. He explained that to the best of his knowledge nobody had served him any court process, requesting him to be in court at any time. According to the statement, the Folio boss was a law-abiding citizen who had respect for the court and would be prepared to honour any court invitation brought to his attention.

At the proceedings, the Prosecutor, Mr. Ernest Ezebilo, told the court that the proof of evidence had been served on the Anosikes who failed to appear in court for their arraignment. Ezebilo, who is from the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), asked the court to issue the bench warrant on the accused persons so that they could be properly arraigned.

The Anosikes were facing a 40-count charge of stealing and fraudulent acquisition preferred against them by the Federal Government of Nigeria. They were alleged to have stolen over N1.7 billion worth of properties belonging to Daily Times, which they had purchased on March 14, 2007.The accused persons are also facing a 21 count charge for conspiring to illegally siphon several billions of naira from the coffers of the defunct newspaper group before a Federal High Court in Lagos .

In a fresh charges, the Anosike brothers and their company, Folio Communications Limited, were alleged to have made false representation to the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE). The prosecution alleged that they had fraudulently misled the BPE that they had means to acquire majority shares of Daily Times.

The accused persons were alleged to have mortgaged the assets of the newspaper company and even sold some of the properties to realise the acquisition of the said shares.They were also alleged to have fraudulently collected over N190 million as rents on various properties belonging to the company leased out to other users across Lagos .

The alleged offences contravene Section 390(7) and 516 of the Criminal Code Law, Cap C17, Laws of Lagos State 2003.

TheSun

One Comment

  1. Kikimodel81

    September 6, 2011 at 6:18 pm

    na wah noel!