Court strikes out alleged $123,000 theft charge against bizman

Federal High Court, Lagos

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Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court in Lagos has struck out a criminal charge of stealing filed against businessman Sikiru Olawale Olayinka and his company, Excampo Nigeria Limited, over the prosecution’s failure to diligently pursue the case.

The judge on Tuesday dismissed the one-count charge after Olayinka’s counsel, Adegboyega Erinle, argued that the prosecution had repeatedly failed to call any of its nine listed witnesses since the case was filed.

Olayinka, the Chief Executive Officer of Excampo Nigeria Limited, was arraigned alongside his company by the Police Special Fraud Unit in June 2022.

He was accused of stealing $123,000, which was allegedly transferred into his company’s Zenith Bank account in error and reportedly converted to N45m.

According to the prosecution, the alleged offences contravened section 15(2)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended in 2012).

Olayinka pleaded not guilty to the charge against him and attended all court sittings.

At Tuesday’s hearing, Erinle urged the court to strike out the case, arguing that the prosecution had made no effort to present a single witness despite multiple adjournments.

He also told the court that his client had shown good faith by refunding a substantial portion of the disputed funds during settlement discussions with the nominal complainant.

In response, the prosecutor pleaded for yet another adjournment, explaining that several witnesses had left the bank branch where the incident occurred, making it difficult to proceed.

Justice Aluko, after reviewing the case file, rejected the request for another adjournment and struck out the charge, citing lack of diligent prosecution.

He then discharged Olayinka of the allegations.

Onozure is a correspondent of The PUNCH on the judiciary beat. She has over a decade experience covering criminal and civil matters from the magistrate to the appellate courts. She’s a graduate of Political Science

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