November 08, (THEWILL) – The Federal High Court, Abuja has quashed allegations of corruption, bribery and money laundering against AITEO boss, Benedict Peters, describing such as unfounded, baseless and an abuse of state powers.
The court, in its judgment declared by Justice Olukayode Adeniyi, held that Benedict Peters is a person of legitimate means and livelihood and the lawful owner of some properties wrongfully listed as owned by Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke.
Ruling in a suit, numbered FCT/HC/CV/0536/17, filed by Benedict Peters and three of his companies, Collinwood Limited, Rosewood Investments Limited and Walworth Properties Limited against the Attorney General of the Federation, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of the United Kingdom, Helen Hughes of the CPS, the National Crime Agency of the United Kingdom and its investigators, Stacey Boniface and John Bavister, Justice Adeniyi held that the defendants, by design, “suppressed and misrepresented facts in the supposition that four properties namely: 270-17 Street, Unit #4204, Atlanta, Georgia; Flat 5 Parkview, 83-86 Prince Albert Road, St. John’s Wood, London; Flat 58 Harley House Marylebone, London; and Apartment 4, 5 Arlington Road, London”, legitimately acquired by Benedict Peters belonged to Mrs Diezani Alison Madueke, former Minister of Petroleum in Nigeria, a “fact they knew or ought to know as unsustainably untrue”.
The Claimants had contended that the Defendants engaged in a scheme of conspiracies, carousel fraud, misrepresentation and suppression of material facts which occasioned hardship, grave damages, loss of earnings, loss of goodwill and subjected the Plaintiffs to public contempt, odium and opprobrium.
They further claimed that the fraud committed by the Defendants consists of dishonest/fraudulent misrepresentation of the true owner of the assets in that they utilized a series of gross misstatements and concealment of facts as the basis upon which they obtained a succession of court orders in the form of interim forfeiture orders, following which they utilized the orders to support a request for Mutual Legal Assistance that culminated in two Restraint orders in the United Kingdom.
But on the contrary, the court noted that documentary evidence and subsisting court judgments validate that Peters has established proprietorship and ownership of all the properties.
It also observed that despite the subsistence of these judgments declaring the true ownership of the properties, the defendants continue to refuse to release the properties.
Justice Adeniyi, having heard and considered the witnesses and comments, the full submissions of counsel for the parties and a careful assessment of the evidence, concluded that the defendant’s actions were directly intended (albeit to inflict economic loss on the just as much as it was to unlawfully profit the Defendants) to extract by intimidation, coercion of assets, properties and monies to which the Claimants are legitimately entitled, finding that the acts of the defendants were targeted at misleading the court or misusing the legal process to injure the claimant’s economic interests.
The judge, therefore, ordered the Defendants, British NCA, CPS, Mr John Bavista, Helen Hughes, Stacey Boniface and Nigerian AGF, EFCC, their operatives, officers, agents, and servants in whatever manner and howsoever called, be jointly or severally restrained from interfering with the proprietary rights and/or interests of Mr Benedict Peters and the other Claimants, their agents, alter-ego or privies in relation to the properties listed in this suit.
It further ordered the Defendants “either by themselves jointly/severally, their operatives, officers, investigators, servants, agents, associates and whatsoever called, are hereby restrained from interfering/continued interference with the person of Mr Peters, either by way of arrest, criminal indictment, charge, interdiction, extradition or in any other manner infringing on his personal liberty and freedom of movement on the facts and circumstances of this case”.
The Court also awarded general damages in the sum of Two Hundred Million Naira jointly and severally against the Defendants.
Counsel to the Plaintiff’s, Chief Mike Ozekhome, while reacting to the judgment, said it has been a long five years for the Claimants to clear their names and that this judgment was a victory not only for the supremacy of rule of law but a critical indictment of the abuse of office, the arbitrary use of power and ignominious prosecutorial and investigative fraud.
About the Author
