There was confusion at an Akure Chief Magistrate’s Court in Ondo State
after the police arraigned a local government worker, Mercy Oluwafeyibunmi, for
alleged
perjury.
The Chief Magistrate, Ayodeji Akinsanya, asked the mother of three for
her name, which she stated as Mercy
Adetokunbo Oluwafeyibunmi.
Akinsanya, however, observed that the name she gave was different from
the one on the charge sheet, urging the police to correct whatever was wrong in
the charge.
PUNCH Metro had reported that Mercy and her ex-lover, Bankole Ogunnowo,
who is based in the United Kingdom, had a daughter together after a brief
relationship.
The duo separated and got married to different spouses.
However, Bankole had a marital crisis with his wife in London, UK, which
led to a separation.
He was seeking rights to the child his estranged UK wife had for him when
the latter told a London court that he was not to be trusted with children as
he had done Female Genital Mutilation on his first daughter, Damilola, which he
had with Mercy in Nigeria.
Bankole, who reportedly worked with children in the UK, became afraid for
his job and contacted Mercy.
The 35-year-old was said to have gone to an Ondo State High Court where
she swore to an affidavit, clearing Bankole of the allegation, including
stating that FGM was a criminal offence in Nigeria.
She gave her name in the affidavit as Mercy Adetokunbo Oluwafeyibunmi.
However, Bankole’s wife sent a representative to a court in Ondo to swear
to a counter-affidavit, accusing Mercy of stealing her middle name, Adetokunbo.
Mercy’s husband, Nicholas, had told PUNCH Metro that she was arrested by
the police while going to pick their children at school.
She was subsequently taken to the Ondo State Police Command from where
she was moved to the Federal Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department
Annex, Alagbon, Ikoyi, Lagos State.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the FCIID, Mr. Abutu Yaro,
had told our correspondent that he did not know the reason for Mercy’s arrest.
Our correspondent was told that the Commissioner of Police in charge of
Interpol, CP Olushola Subair, was the one acting on the counter-affidavit.
Two days after PUNCH Metro reported the case, Mercy was moved back to
Ondo State by the Investigating Police Officer, Sergeant Ebong Emmanuel, of the
FCIID, Alagbon.
She was reportedly prevented from communicating with any family members
until they arrived at the Ondo State Police Command, from where she was moved
to the magistrate’s court around 3pm.
The police arraigned her on three counts of perjury and conspiracy,
stating that her actual name was Joy Mary Adetokunbo Oluwafeyibunmi, which
created confusion.
The charges read, “That you, Oluwafeyibunmi Adetokunbo Mary Joy, and
others at large, on or about November 27, 2015, at the Ondo State High Court,
in the Ondo Magisterial District, did conspire among yourselves to commit
felony, to wit; perjury.
“That you….did swear to an affidavit, dated November 27, 2015, that you
are Mrs. Mercy Adetokunbo Oluwafeyibunmi, knowingly that the testimony was
false….
“That you… did swear to an affidavit, dated November 27, 2015, that you
are Mrs. Mercy Adetokunbo
Oluwafeyibunmi, knowing that all facts stated therein are false and same were
deposed to assist one Bankole Oni Ogunnowo in a case pending before a central
family court in the United Kingdom.”
The police said the offences were punishable under sections 37, 516 and
118 of the Criminal Code, Cap 37, Vol 1, Law of Ondo State, Nigeria, 2006.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges and elected summary
trial.
The police prosecutor, Bakare Ibrahim, asked the court to remand the
defendant in prison.
The defence counsel, Kehinde Aladedutire, opposed the application, urging
the court to grant her bail.
He said Mercy had been in police custody for about 14 days unjustly and
described the charges as frivolous.
The chief magistrate, Akinsanya, who chided the police for the confusion
in the charge sheet after asking Mercy for her name, threatened to strike out
the charges.
He also wondered why the complainant was not in court as required by the
law.
He granted the defendant bail in the sum of N100,000, with one surety in
like sum and adjourned the case till August 21, 2017.
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