The factional Chairman, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Edozie Njoku, was arrested by the police at the premises of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Bwari, Abuja on Monday.
This is followed a complaint by the prosecution lawyer, CSP Ezekiel Rinamsomte, that Njoku had verbally threatened him as counsel in the matter.
He told Justice Mohammed Madugu shortly after the case was about to be adjourned.
“My lord, this morning when I came to the court, he (Njoku) saw me, waved his hand at me and said prosecutor how are you and we shook hands.
“I did not even recognise him because there is nothing personal between me and him.
“The next thing this man started telling me was that he was going to send calamity upon calamities upon my family; that members of my family will be dying and that he would deal with me.
“I asked him what have I done, he said he was a very dangerous man. He said he was the reason why Director, Litigation of Supreme Court, Mr Dikko, was removed and dismissed.
“That he was going to shake the Nigerian Police Force; that he was the reason why the daughter of (Onyechi) Ikpeazu, SAN, died; that he was going to deal with everybody in this case.
“And I said does it mean that this man is above the law or what is the problem,” the lawyer said.
Rinamsomte said he decided to inform the judge so that the court could take judicial notice of what transpired between him and Njoku earlier in the morning
Justice Madugu, who hinted that he had already closed proceeding on the suit, however asked Njoku, who was standing in the dock with his co-defendant, on what happened.
Responding, the APGA factional chairman admitted exchanging pleasantries with Rinamsomte earlier in the day.
But he denied the allegations that he threatened the prosecutor.
“My lord, I only said that anybody in this case, who lied against me to go to jail or send anyone to prison by telling lie, calamity will befall that person,” he said.
Njoku said he neither mentioned anything about late Ikpeazu’s daughter nor made any such comments attributed to him by the prosecutor.
The judge, then, jokingly said Rinamsomte should have avoided Njoku who he knew was standing trial.
“You should have greeted him from afar,” he said.
