WIDOW : RIGHT THEY DO HAVE...........

A widow is any woman who has lost her husband to the cold hand of death. The right of a widow under the native law and tradition of the Yorubas is that a widow is part of the husband’s estate

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

I  can't  tell  you  how  overjoyed  i  am  today,It  feels  so  good  to  be  a  year  older.
I  am  proud  of  myself  and  of  everything  i  have  achieved in  my  life  so  far

I  have  the  most  beautiful  and  incredible  husband,daughter,mother,siblings  and  friends  anyone  would  pray  for,who  have  gone  out  of  their  ways  to  make  me  feel loved  today  and  who  are  there  for  me  everyday.You  know  who  you  are,Thank  you  I  LOVE  YOU.

And  most  importantly i  have  a  legal  capacity  to  do  so  many  things  from  voting  and  be  voted  for  in  Nigeria,legal  capacity  to sue  and  be  sue,to  enter  into  contract  agrEement  and  so  on.

yaaaaay  HAPPY  BIRTHDAY  TO  ME

Thank  You.

OYENIKE  ALLIYU-ADEBIYI  LLB(hons)  BL

AKOLADE AROWOLO'S RIGHT OF APPEAL

Jubilation here and there especially by women who has been /is a victim of domestic violence  after the honorable Justice of Lagos state High court, Justice Lateefat Okunnu pronounce the judgment of the honorable court on Mr. Akolade Arowolo which was sentenced to

ECOBANK PLC V. BABTUNDE OKE'S FAMILY

Mr. Babatunde Oke a staff of Ecobank Plc, ogba branch, a bank in Nigeria was alleged to have defrauded the bank of the sum of N1.2 Million Naira, he was arrested by the Nigeria police based on a report from his employers , he was taken into custody while in custody he was interrogated and tortured which eventually led to his death.

Babatunde Oke is survived by wife, two years and five months old children. May his soul Rest in Peace (AMEN).

The Nigerian police is expected to serve as an unbiased empire by handling each matter diplomatically irrespective of who reports a case following the provision of the Constitution  Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Criminal and Civil procedure Acts and its own Act which is the Police Act.

The issues for determination in respect of Babatunde Oke are ;

(i)                  Whether the offence alleged of is so grievous to deny him bail

(ii)                What is the time frame for arraigning an accused in the law court

(iii)               How liable is the Nigeria police in this case

(iv)              How liable is Ecobank as the complainant in this case

(v)                Remedies available to the family of the deceased 

On whether the accused can be granted bail, Section 17 of the Criminal procedure Acts provides that when any person has been taken into custody without a warrant for an offense other than an offense punishable with death, any officer in charge of police station may bring such person before a magistrate within 24 hours after he was taken into custody to inquire the case and unless the offense within appears to be a serious nature discharging the person upon his entering into recognizance  with or without sureties for reasonable amount to appear before a court as soon as possible.

Section 484 of the criminal procedure Act define as soon as possible as practicable whether or not the police inquiries are completed. Section 27 of the Police Act authorizes the police to grant bail pending the trial of the accused person.

Section 35 of the constitution FRN  guarantees the right t personal liberty its subsection (4) however demand that person denied personal liberty in this regard shall be brought before the court of law within time otherwise the person shall be released on bail, reasonable time is further defined as by the court as 24 hours in case of an arrest in any place where there is a court of competent jurisdiction within a radius of 40 km or 48 hours or any longer period that the court considers i.e. in case of arrest after 4pm on Friday.

On whether the management of Ecobank is liable,it is no longer news that in Nigeria where it is discovered that the set the law in motion against the deceased they shall be liable for malicious detention BALOGUN V. AMUBIKHAU (1989) 3NWLR (pt 107) 18

Every officer in charge of the matter popularly referred to as IPO shall be liable if (i) bail was unnecessarily denied which is contrary to the provision of the criminal procedure Act, their own Police Act and above all the constitution .

On whether there is remedy for the family of the deceased their son, husband died in the cause of exercising his duty plus they were the ones who set the law in motion against him by subjecting him to unnecessary torture while investigation is ongoing.

Conclusively, I hereby appeal to the Inspector General Of Police, the Assistant Inspector General of police Zone 2 Lagos, the commissioner of police Lagos state, Minister for police Affairs, the disciplinary committee of the CBN, All human Rights lawyers across the federation to intervene in this matter.

JUSTICE FOR BABATUNDE OKE! JUSTICE FOR ALL!!

Thank you.

Oyenike Alliyu-Adebiyi LLB(hons)BL

VOLENTI NON FIT INJURIA

I read on Stella Dimoko’s Blog about a rich Nigerian businessman who was into an extra-marital  affair with another woman during the subsistence of a valid marriage

REMOVAL OF SANUSI VS. CBN ACT

The Federal Government of Nigeria on the 20^th day of February suspend the Governor of the Nigeria Apex Bank, Mallam  Lamido Sanusi who has less than three months to the end of his tenure as the governor of the Apex court.

This generated a lot of controversies as the suspended CBN governor has been exposing financial irregularities in the different ministry of the federation in recent time, the opposition parties through their various spokes person, minority leaders of the house of senate and meaning Nigerians who believe in following of due process have criticized the move.

We shall be discussing the power to appoint, the Act governing the appointment and removal of the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. It is also important to know that an employer reserves the right to either hire or fire its employee, so how applicable is this in the case before us.

The law regulating and governing the affairs of the Nigerian APEX bank is the Central Bank (establishment) Act, 2007 which came into force during the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Section 11(f) of the CBN Act provides for disqualification and cessation of the office of the CBN governor,it provides that the CBN governor can be removed by the president provided that the removal is supported by two third majority of the senate praying that he be so removed.

On whether the president  can remove the CBN governor is clear from the provision of the CBN Act above, but the question to now ask is whether due process was followed , and if he was removed or suspended.

Since the federal government used the word ‘suspend’ which is different from total ‘removal’ which was provided for under the CBN  Act, then the issue of not following due process does not apply.

The suspended Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria can contest his suspension in a court of competent jurisdiction.

Thank you.

Oyenike Alliyu-Adebiyi LLB(hons)BL

BANK DRAFT : FIRST AFRICAN TRUST BANK LTD V. PARTNERSHIP INVESTENT COMPANY LIMITED

The opening of bank account in Nigeria now is not a ‘big deal’ in fact the least anyone would have is one, I know so many people with several bank accounts even though the balance is zero kobo ‘lol’

The issuance of dud-cheque/dishonored cheque being a criminal offense is no longer news, another very popular means of  business transaction common in the banking sector is the issuance of bank draft.

A bank draft is a written order sent from one bank to another for paying money to a customer. It is a cheque drawn on a bank funds such as cashier’s cheques when paying bills.

A cheque is defined under the section 73 of the bills of exchange Act cap 35 laws of the federal republic of Nigeria as not money until it is presented to a bank and paid. It is a bill of exchanged drawn on bankers and payable on demand.

The usual practice in bank for issuance of bank draft is that bank will not issue draft except they have received the value of the bank draft, this also guarantee payment of the draft without any problem, unfortunately a new position has been arrived in the Supreme Court recent decision on the above quoted case.

In the above case the defendant issued a bank draft of N7,1OO,000 (seven million one hundred  thousand naira only) in favor of the plaintiff for services rendered, on presentation of the draft it was returned unpaid, the plaintiff was surprised because he felt ordinarily a bank draft cannot be stopped because it was the bank itself that issue the cheque, and he had already given value on receipt of the bank draft. As the bank draft has remained unpaid, the respondent commenced an action against the applicant in the high court of Lagos state.

In the high court of Lagos state, it was held that once bank draft has been issued, the bank is under an obligation to pay the value to the person in whose favor the draft was issued.(this was the position before )

The defendant was dissatisfied by the decision of the Lagos high court thereby appealed the decision in the court of Appeal. In the judgment of the Appeal court, it found that the appellant averment of want for consideration for the bank draft and fraud are transverse by way of reply nor was the evidence tendered in support seriously challenged by the respondent. The court of Appeal however held that if the appellant had not received value for bank drafts as it is the practice of bank to receive value before bank drafts are issued. It upheld the judgment of the trial court and dismissed the appeal.

The appellant was still dissatisfied and it appealed to the Supreme Court. The matter was decided in his favor ,it was held by Justice Kutigi j.sc and other justices of the supreme court that a bank draft can be stopped at any time especially if  the promise made by the bank customer to the bank in respect of the transaction is breached.

Please note that bank draft can be stopped at any point according to the decision of the Supreme Court on the above stated case.

JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COURT THAT DECIDED THE CASE ARE;

Per EJIWNMI J.S.C

       KUTIGI J.S.C

       MOHAMMED J.S.C

      IGUH J.S.C

      MUSDAPHER  J.S.C

Thank you.

Oyenike Alliyu-Adebiyi LLB(hons)BL

BREACH OF PROMISE TO MARRY

A breach of agreement of marriage features the existence of marriage under the Matrimonial Causes Act or the Islamic law, customary law and refusal of the promisor to keep the agreement.

An agreement to enter into marriage should

CRIMINAL LITIGATION; SEARCH

we shall be discussing search because people resist search when need arise, also when cars are stopped on highways to be searched people feel the police are acting beyond the powers conferred on them some even see it as a waste of time.

A search is an examination of a person’s body , vehicle, house,  premises, or any vessel with the view to discover contraband, illicit, stolen property or some evidence of guilty to be used in the prosecution of a criminal action for some other or offence with which he is charged.

The general rule is that before a search can be conducted; there must be a warrant to be issued by appropriate authority for there to be a valid search.

The power to search the body of the person arrested is conferred on the police officer making such arrest, he needs give no reason for the search, a private person who has custody of an arrested person also has power to search a person. The search of a lady is to be carried out by another lady not by a man this is the provision of section 43(3) of the criminal procedure code, the search of the body of a woman must be done with strict regard to decency but it is lawful for a man to search other things attached to the body of a woman i.e. handbags, wallets etc

The search of premises must be conducted in the presence of two respectable inhabitants of the neighborhood summoned by the person to whom he search is addressed. Where the premises to be search belong to a woman in Pudah, they should be allowed to withdraw provided they are not the object of search.

The authority to issue a search warrant is conferred on a judge, magistrate of a senior police officer, search warrant may be issued and executed on any day including Sunday and public holidays between the hurs of 5am and 8pm but this does not mean this provision cannot be waived at anytime in other to meet the exigency of a particular vessels used for smuggling at night or house of ill repute.

A police officer may detain and search any person he reasonably suspects of any immoral or criminal act. Also before a search warrant is executed on a person, premises or thing warrant must be shown to the person, occupier or person in control of thing. The body of the person who intends to conduct the search will then be searched by by the person named in the warrant.

Thank you.

Oyenike Alliyu-Adebiyi LLB(hons)BL