A Karmo Grade I Area Court, Abuja, on Tuesday ordered a public servant, Uchenna Okolie, to sweep the premises of a Church for two weeks for contempt.
Okolie, who resides at No 13, Moses Majekodunmi Crescent, Utako, Abuja and a staff of Pension Commission ( PenCom), is standing trial on two counts of criminal intimidation and constituting public disturbance.
The Judge, Inuwa Maiwada, however, gave Okolie an option to pay a fine of N20,000 to be paid into the Federal Government coffers, which was one fifth of the bond her surety entered into.
Maiwada in addition, granted the application of the defendant’s surety to withdraw him as surety.
He held that having granted the application, the defendant was without a surety and was ordered to produce a replacement in order to avoid being remanded in custody.
Earlier, the prosecution counsel, Ijeoma Ukagha, told the court that the defendant who was granted bail on June 16, had continued to disturb the peace of the complainant who had approached the court to intervene.
Ukagha said he had witnesses to corroborate the allegation.
She said the witnesses who were neighbours of both parties, came to the court to confirm and affirm that the defendant has not changed his ways.
The defence counsel, R.B Kure, in response, said on June 16, when the defendant was released from detention, she exhibited some symptoms of COVID-19, which necessitated her to go into self isolation.
Kure said the defendant who was on isolation at a different location, could not be said to be guilty of constituting nuisance and accusing the complaint of such, should not arise since she was not in her apartment.
Kure in addition, informed the court that the parties were exploring an out- of -court settlement.
The court in its ruling, said that from its record, it was stated that the complainant, Abba Maigida, had on June 19, informed the court that the defendant had broken the bond she entered to maintain peace.
The complainant therefore produced neighbours as witnesses when asked to tender evidence by the court.
The court held that the court clerk, Shehu Bayero, was sent to invite the defendant to court to counter the assertion of the complainant.
The court equally said that the Clerk returned to inform the court that after knocking on the defendant’s door for hours, the occupant of the apartment could not hear him because of the noise that was coming out of the apartment.
Bayero had told the court that when the door was eventually opened, he was informed that the defendant was not home.
The court further stated that, it ordered the surety to produce the defendant and when he was unable to do so, the court invited him to show cause why the court should not commit him for the defendant’s breaking of the bond he entered into.
The defendant who was given an opportunity to address the court in her defence, said she left her apartment on June 19 and had not returned there until date.
She equally said one of the neighbours, Adeboke Olusegun, was a colleague of the complainant and would therefore mislead the court with false information in order for her to be indicted.
Okolie said the reason she could not honour the court’s invitation was because she was on self isolation and that she informed the court of these development formally in writing.
The court in response, said that he found her guilty of contempt of court proceedings by her failure to convince it otherwise.
Maiwada also adjourned the case until July 20, for hearing.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that Maigida alleged that Okolie, who resides in an apartment directly above his own within the same address, constituted a constant nuisance by her continual pounding of an object on the decking of his apartment and every attempt to get her to stop, failed
In addition, Maigida alleged that the defendant threatened him and a police officer, with a knife when he tried to talk to her to stop hitting objects on his decking.
Maigida had therefore approached the court through an application, by direct criminal complain in compliance with Section 89 ( 5) of Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015.
The defendant, however, denied the allegation and the court ordered police investigation into the matter.
Based on the police investigation report and recommendation, the matter proceeded into trial and the court made order for the parties to maintain peace which the defendant had flouted.
