Undertake Staying Till End, Judge Orders Evans Lawyer At Resumed Trial

The trial of alleged kidnap kingpin, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, popularly known as Evans, has resumed.

Evans’ trial continued on Friday at the Lagos High Court in the Ikeja area, after suffering several adjournments owing to a lack of legal representation.

The trial judge, Justice Hakeem Oshodi, ordered the defendant’s new counsel to write and sign an undertaking to finish the criminal case.

He gave the order to Mr Oyekunle Falabi after dismissing a “no-case submission” filed by Evans’ four co-defendants.

At the last sitting of the court, the judge said Evans had developed a habit of engaging the services of lawyers who “disappeared halfway through trial” and this has caused delays in the case.

He had then directed the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) to take over his defence at the next adjourned date if he was not represented by any counsel.

Since the trial began on August 30, 2017, Evans was represented at different times by Mr Olukoya Ogungbeje, Mr Noel Brown, and Mr Olanrewaju Ajanaku, all of whom withdrew from the case.

He had also told the court that he had no money to pay for his legal fees.

At the resumed proceedings on Friday, the new lawyer, Mr Falabi told the court that the chambers of Victor Okpara and Co. were just briefed about the case the previous day.

After hearing this, Justice Oshodi ordered the lawyer to write an undertaking and immediately dictated in open court, the words to an undertaking to the effect that Falabi and his law chambers would not abandon the case during the trial.

The words of the undertaking are “I, Oyekunle Falabi, representing the law firm of Victor Okpara undertake on behalf of the first defendant (Evans) in suit no ID/590761 to represent him in defence of this matter at all times when the matter comes up in Justice Oshodi’s court.

“In the event of any breach of this undertaking, the court is at liberty to report us to our national body, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).”
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