The suspects in the assault and attempted murder case who fled from the magistrate court last year in charge No MO/185c/2022 on Monday, February 13, 2023, for the second time, desecrated the sanctity of the court and fled from the court in Ogwashi-Uku Magistrate Court 2 presided over by Magistrate Chinedu Osumah.
Recall that in 2022, the suspects who were undergoing trial at the magistrate court were granted bail but could not perfect their bail conditions.
As the court officials moved to take them into custody pending the perfection of their bail and verification of their sureties, with the help of a mob from the Azungwu community, they overpowered the police and court officials and ran away with handcuffs.
The Chief Magistrate subsequently on December 20, 2022, issued bench arrest warrants for them.
The defendants include Mr Elue Nwaolise, Azuka Obata, Ifechukwude Ikewenji and Osim Okelue, Iloba Obata, Godwin Asikawili and others.
The suspects were apparently sought separately for very serious crimes which include murder, arson and rape at the High court in Asaba.
The organisers of the mob who have continued to assist them to flee from custody are thought to represent a serving ACP Chike Nwabua.
The said suspects are from the Ogbe Odogwu community in Azungwu.
They are apparently facing charges after they assaulted Ogwashi-Uku vigilante members with cutlasses and inflicted deep wounds on several of them.
Many community members have expressed their disgust with the blatant disregard for the court and the judicial system.
A community leader, Mr Moses Adigwe, said, “We are highly embarrassed by this repeated show of shame. We cannot understand in the first instance why Magistrate Chinedu Osumah granted these people who ran away from court last year bail in the first place.
“Clearly, they demonstrated that they are a flight risk and should not be trusted with bail. For them to flee again a second time from his court shows a high level of complicity in this matter. Why didn’t the court official and police prosecutor ensure the premises were secured? I even understand that the court dates were shrouded in secrecy and even the complainants didn’t know about the court hearing date.
“It is high time this embarrassment stops as it is giving our community a very bad reputation. Our people are normally very law-abiding. The people who are involved in these matters are repeat offenders and have committed so many crimes. They are a danger in our community and the police and courts should ensure they are locked up until after their trials.”
Efforts to reach the spokesperson for the Delta State Police Command, DSP Bright Edafe to confirm the incident unsuccessful.
