Alleged N72.5m Theft: Court Remands Former NUFBTE Member

For allegedly stealing the sum of N72.5m belonging to the National Union of Food, Beverage, and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE), a former member of the Union, Peter Onoja, has been remanded in a correctional centre.

The decision came from an Ikeja Special Offences Court, presided over by Justice Mojisola Dada.

Onoja is answering questions to a six-count charge bothering on stealing, contrary to Section 287 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2011.

Justice Dada remanded the defendant in any correctional facility of his choice, pending the filing and hearing of his bail application.

The judge thereafter adjourned the case until January 24, 2023, for the commencement of trial and hearing of bail application.

It would be recalled that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), through its counsel, Anita Imo, had alleged that the defendant fraudulently converted the sum of N72.5 million, property of NUFBTE to his personal use.

Imo told the court that the defendant committed the offence between February 2015 and August 2020 in Lagos.

But Onoja pleaded not guilty to the charge, prompting the prosecution to ask for the remand of the defendant in a correctional centre pending the commencement of trial.

According to the EFCC, "Considering the not guilty plea of the defendant, we shall be asking for a trial date, and we urge the court that the defendant be remanded, my lord.’’

However, the defence lawyer, Paul Okwoi, told the court that the defence could not file his bail application due to an error in it.

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