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Two Abuja based legal practitioners, Emmanuel Onuoha and C.O Adie on Monday in Abuja threw caution to the wind when they pounced and beat up wife of another lawyer, Mrs Oluwatayo Adeyemi in a court premises in Abuja over dispute in media coverage of a criminal matter.
According to PRNigeria, the two Lawyers had represented a lawyer, Henry Onyinyechi Nwosu and a Pastor, Jonathan Onuoha who were arraigned in Court over alleged conspiracy and forgery of documents of a plot of land located at Zone 6, Dutse Alhaji District of Abuja.
The two defendants were docked at the Chief Magistrate Court One for allegedly forging documents of the land belonging to a retired Director of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mr Royson Obijuru.
The criminal charge was filed against them by another Abuja lawyer, Barrister Gbenga Adeyemi on behalf of the land owner.
However, when the charges were read to them, the two defendants pleaded not guilty.
Although the prosecution counsel, Olaolu Alao opposed their bail, Chief Magistrate Muinat Folasade Oyekan admitted them to bail on various terms and conditions.
Among others, the two accused persons were granted bail in the sum of N500, 000 each and two sureties each in the like sums.
Magistrate Muinat Oyekan said that the sureties must be resident in the jurisdiction of the Court and must also be Civil Servants not below Grade Level 16.
The Court also ordered that the sureties must swear to affidavit of means while the two accused persons are to be moved to prison custody on remand pending the time they will perfect their bail conditions.
Trouble, however, erupted when Onuoha, counsel to Pastor Jonathan Onuoha, sighted the presence of media men in the court premises and challenged them on their audacity to cover his client’s arraignment without his approval.
The media men, in response, stood their ground that they did not need his approval before doing their jobs.
Onuoha, in anger, rained abuses on the Journalists with threats to deal with them, but the media men stood their grounds.
The apprehensive lawyer thereafter dashed to the courtroom and reported the presence of the journalists to the Chief Magistrate who, through his Police orderly, summoned the media men to the courtroom.
Based on the protest of the counsel, Magistrate Oyekan directed newsmen to move out of the court premises and do their jobs outside the court premises since they did not obtain permission to cover the arraignment.
At the outside, the two lawyers in the bid to shield their clients from being recorded by the electronic media, continued their assault against the newsmen.
Suspecting that the nominal complainant in the matter might be responsible for the presence of media men, the two angry lawyers descended on a woman and dealt several blows on her face, leading to injuries and bleeding
The woman was later identified as Mrs Oluwatayo Adeyemi and wife of the nominal complainant, Barrister Gbenga Adeyemi, who filed the criminal charges against the two defendants on behalf of his Imo based client.
The battered woman was moved to Zone 3 Divisional Police Station from where she was taken to Wuse General Hospital for treatments.
At the time of this report, the two lawyers were still at the Police Station while their victim has been moved to a nearby hospital.
Meanwhile, the Court has fixed June 7 for hearing in all pending motions in respect of the charge and continuation of trial.
