Seun Egbegbe spends 20th month in prison, appears in court today

0

For failure to meet the N5m bail granted him by the Federal High Court in Lagos, Nollywood film-maker, Olajide Kazeem, better known as Seun Egbegbe, has so far spent about 20 months in prison custody.

The erstwhile Lagos socialist has been kept away since February 10, 2017, after he was arraigned by the police for alleged serial frauds involving N39, 098,100, $90,000 and £12,550.

The surety, the court said, must deposit the Certificate of Occupancy of the landed property in the custody of the court.

Both sureties were to swear to affidavit of means while their addresses were to be verified by the court registrar.

Justice Oguntoyinbo ordered that the defendants should be remanded in the prison custody until they meet the bail conditions.

About 20 months after the bail was granted, Egbegbe, who was known for lavish spending, has, however, remained in the Ikoyi Prison custody, as he has not been able to meet the bail conditions.

The police prosecutor, Anyigor, had told the court that he had no fewer than 40 witnesses, including the BDC operators, who would testify against Egbegbe and his co-defendants in court.

On March 10, 2017, over 30 BDC operators stormed the court for the trial.

So far, the prosecution has called four witnesses.

The trial had been slowed down sometimes due to inability of investigating police officers, who were listed as witnesses, to attend the court.

At other times, the case was stalled because the Hausa BDC operators, who were listed as witnesses, complained of inability to either speak or understand English language and an interpreter had to be arranged.

The case was last heard on November 1, 2018 and it is billed to resume on Monday (today) for continuation of trial.