Three persons were at the weekend arraigned before a Magistrate Court in Nanka, Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State, for allegedly giving police false information on the murder of a man, Mr Tochukwu Onyemelukwe.
The men, Mr Joseph Omegha, Godson Oforkansi and Martin Okeke, were arraigned before Chioma Ikejiofor on Friday, in a matter with charge number: MCNA/61923. A fourth defendant, Mr Jacob Enemuo, was absent from court on health grounds.
The men were accused of giving police false information in a petition they wrote to the AIG in 2021, over the death of an indigene of the community, Onyemelukwe.
Part of the information on the charge sheet read: “That you Joseph Omegha ‘m’, Godson Oforkansi ‘m’, Martin Okeke ‘m’ and Jacob Enemuo ‘m’, sometime in the month of December, 2021 conspired among yourselves to commit a misdeamanor to wit: giving false information to a public servant, and you thereby committed an offence punishable under 496(a) of the Criminal Code Law, Cap. 36, vol. II, Revised Laws of Anambra State of Nigeria, 1991, as amended.
“You did with intention to mislead a public officer, wrote a petition to the Assistance Inspector-General of Police, FCID annex Enugu, alleging that one Emmanuel Ezeobi, Kosiochukwu Ezechukwu and others, murdered one Tochukwu Onyemelukwe in a broad daylight, the fact you know to be false.
“You did conduct yourselves in a manner likely to cause a breach of public peace when, without any concrete evidence and out of malice, you falsely accused one Emmanuel Ezeobi, Kosiochukwu Ezechukwu and others of killing one Tochukwu Onyemelukwe.”
The men pleaded not guilty to all the charges. The matter was adjourned to September 29 for plea and motion taking.
Meanwhile, counsel to the complainant, who is the Inspector General of Police, Mr Kyije Abang, told journalists that the court awarded N50,000 cost to the defendants, against his demand for N100,000 for the defendant’s counsel’s inability to appear.
Meanwhile, counsel to the defendant, who later came to court after adjournment, said: “I was coming to court when my car broke down because of the bad road. The magistrate has already asked me to apply for the cost to be waived. As for providing false information, that is what the court is here to ascertain. There is nothing like false information.”
