Court remands doctor over alleged cheating, criminal breach of trust

A Grade I Area Court, Kubwa, on Thursday, remanded a 34-year-old doctor, Kelvin Royce, in a correctional centre over alleged cheating and criminal breach of trust.

The Judge, Ibrahim Rufai, gave the order following the Defence Counsel, Anenih Enabosi’s application for bail.

Rufai, however, adjourned the matter till Aug.14 for ruling.

The police charged the defendant, of Brickcity Estate, Kubwa, Abuja, with criminal breach of trust and cheating, to which he pleaded not guilty.

Earlier, the Prosecution Counsel, John Okpa, told the court that the complainant, Mr Eyarunu Davies, reported the matter at the Divisional Police Headquarters, Byazhin, on March 14, 2022.

Okpa said that the defendant collected N5.1 million from the complainant to rent five-unit shops for him sometime in 2020.

He added that the said sum was transferred to the defendant’s Access Bank account but he absconded to an unknown destination after receiving same.

The offences, he said, contravened the provisions of Sections 312 and 322 of the Penal Code.

The defence counsel, however, applied for bail for the defendant, citing Sections 158,162 and 165 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA).

Enabosi said that bail was at the discretion of the court and urged it to exercise same judicially and judiciously.

He assured the court that the defendant would not jump bail nor interfere with police investigations, if granted the bail.

The prosecution counsel, however, opposed to the bail, saying that the defendant had been on the run and was tracked before he got arrested.

He urged the court to invoke Section 165(2) of ACJA, which allows a surety to provide a certain amount of money before bail.