Connect with us

Headline

Why Nigerian Judiciary Must Urgently Address Delays In Processing Court Cases – Osinbajo

Published

on

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has given reasons the Nigerian judiciary must address the issue of delays in processing cases through the courts.

Prof. Osinbajo, who had addressed the issue on previous occasions, restated his position again on Friday when he chaired a Wole Olanipekun & Co., WOC, Justice Summit on Justice Sector Reforms in celebration of the 70th birthday of Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, in Lagos.

Describing the issue of delays in the judicial process as the ‘elephant in the room’, the VP wondered what would happen to the country’s legal profession in “another 50 years given the gridlock in processing cases through the courts and the question of the integrity of the legal process, or better still, the integrity of actors in the legal process in Nigeria.”

READ ALSO: BREAKING: EFCC Returns N19.3bn Kogi Salary Bailout ‘Hidden’ In Sterling Bank To CBN

Highlighting delays in Nigerian courts, the Vice President recalled: “how the UK Court of Appeal had occasion to comment in the case of (IPCO v. NNPC [2015] EWCA Civ 1144) where a challenge to the enforcement of a Nigerian seated arbitration tribunal award came before the English Court of Appeal.”

The VP explained that “the court referred to the delays in the parallel proceedings before a Nigerian Court as catastrophic and that it could take a further 30 years to resolve.”

“Incidentally, the expert witness who testified on delays in the Nigerian Courts was a former Justice of the Supreme Court who testified that a case could take 20 to 30 years to resolve in a Nigerian Court.”

Prof. Osinbajo urged for further engagements by stakeholders on the integrity of the legal process and its key actors, particularly judges and lawyers, towards proffering solutions to the challenge of delay in court processes.

He said, “I look forward to the conversations we will have today, and may I suggest as rules of the house that we focus on practical and implementable ideas, not a rehash of the problems. We are all experts at knowing the problem.”

The Vice President described the celebrant, Chief Olanipekun, “as one of the most consequential and influential lawyers in the commonwealth”, adding that beyond his accolades and achievements, he has impacted many lives through his kindness, philanthropy and faith.

Thanking God for giving the legal luminary “an ever-youthful physique and disposition, Prof. Osinbajo said, “Chief Olanipekun’s great intellect, mastery of the law, its substance and its technicalities, his incredible ability to get to the heart of the matter and to let whole panels of judges see his sometimes daring points; his disarming wit and humour, his sometimes lyrical and poetic submissions, quoting from the classics and the Scriptures, make him easily one of the most outstanding minds in the legal profession in this or any other generation.

READ ALSO:BREAKING: Boko Haram Kidnap 22 Girls In Rafi, Niger For Marriage

“But I am sure that what must give him as much, if not more satisfaction, as his accomplishments in the legal profession is how he has affected the lives of hundreds, who cannot repay him for his kindness, his many charities and philanthropies and his several contributions to the growth and reach of the gospel.”

Headline

US-based Nigerian Bodybuilder Dies 18 Days After Being Shot By Wife

Published

on

A US-based Nigerian bodybuilder, Michael Chidozie, 26, has died 18 days after he was shot multiple times by his wife, Keaiirra Shavoiyae, in the middle of an argument on March 21.

Chidozie lingered on life support, but he suffered a devastating spinal injury and died of complications on April 8, Daily Mail reports.

Chidozie was reported to have been shot four times by his wife during an argument inside their Houston apartment in front of their children.

READ ALSO: Drama As US-based Model Accidentally Uploads ‘Cozy’ Photo With Davido

Daily Mail further reports that Chidozie was rushed to Ben Taub Hospital after police found him with gunshot wounds and his wife in a panic holding their two kids, aged three and two.

A Houston media outlet, ABC13, reports that court documents show that he was shot twice in the torso, once in the arm, and once in the chest.

It added that Keaiirra, 28, was afterwards charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after the shooting, and her charges have not been upgraded since his death.

READ ALSO: Troops Ambush Terrorists On Transit To Cause Havoc In Kaduna, Neutralize Two

Keaiirra Shavoiyae
Investigators say that she claimed to have shot Chidozie in self-defence as she feared for her life during the argument when he followed her into their bedroom, where she picked up a pistol and shot him.

ABC13 further reports that Keaiirra has been released on bail and is set to next face court on May 23.

Chidozie’s family is trying to raise $70,000 to bring his body back to Nigeria for burial, as a GoFundMe has been set up to help the family with the expenses.

The PUNCH reported in January how an American-based Nigerian singer, Osazuwa Agbonayinma, popularly known as Zuwa, was shot dead in the United States of America.

Continue Reading

Headline

Football Legend, David Beckham Wins £240m Legal Fight

Published

on

David Beckham has won a massive £240million legal battle against several counterfeiters who were selling fake versions of his designer gear online.

The former football legend, 48, who is the director of DB Ventures had been seeking a staggering £1.58billion from 150 internet sellers.

Case files revealed the fraudsters were selling the fake goods on sites including Amazon, eBay, and Etsy by firms or individuals based in China or elsewhere in Asia.

These items consisted of designer clothing, footwear, perfume, hair, and body products, posters, footballs, video games, eyewear, jewellery, and watches.

The complaint said: ‘Their sale poses a real threat to DBV’s brand, and affects the sustainability of its business.

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Iran Summons French, British, German Envoys Over Reactions To Israel Attack

‘It also affects individuals and companies who unwittingly purchase them.’

The paperwork filed in the US also claimed the dodgy sales ‘erode the brand’s reputation’ and cost the company ‘considerable lost sales and harm’.

But now after almost three months since initiating legal action, Beckham has won the case, according to The Sun.

Last summer a temporary injunction and asset freeze were granted to Becks, which have now been made permanent by the judge.

Additionally, DB Venture’s motion for a default judgment against 44 defendants was granted, awarding £8,000 for each infringement.

READ ALSO: FG Sets Up Committee To Oversee Cancer Health Fund

However, the total award of £352,000 is significantly lower than the £ 240 million sought by Beckham’s team from the 15 firms collectively.

The former England captain will be happy to know that the counterfeiters are required to stop selling and forfeit any profits they accumulated.

DB Ventures enlisted the expertise of trademark specialists, The Sladkus Law Group, to put an end to the illicit sales.

In the filing, partner Jeffrey Sladkus explained that tracking the sites was challenging due to their lack of accurate address or phone number information.

He emphasised that legal threats were the sole effective method to halt their activities.

READ ALSO: Deadly Flog: Girl Caught In Camera Beating Up Baby With Rod [VIDEO]

Beckham allegedly sold a 55 per cent stake in the firm to Authentic Brands in 2022 for £200million, despite the company’s profitable turnover doubling to £72million in the same year.

The company owns fashion brands Juicy Couture and Forever 21.

A source previously told the publication: ‘Authentic Brands want to crack down on people ­making cash from flogging goods with David’s name attached to it.

‘David and the team pride themselves on the quality of what they sell, including their clothes and ­fragrances, and they don’t want ­people being unwittingly ripped off when they buy a fake.’

 

Continue Reading

Headline

US Doctor Found Guilty Of Poisoning Patients

Published

on

A doctor in Texas has been found guilty of injecting heart-stopping poison into IVs at his former medical clinic in North Dallas.

FOX 4 in Dallas reported that a 12-person jury found Dr. Raynaldo Ortiz guilty on all 10 counts after nearly seven hours of deliberation.

When the verdict was read, Ortiz showed no emotion for the crimes he had committed.

As a result of Ortiz’s action, several patients suffered cardiac emergencies and Dr. Melanie Kaspar died after using one of the IV bags, prosecutors said.

Federal prosecutors said the anesthesiologist committed the shocking crimes at Baylor Scott and White Surgicare North Dallas in retaliation for a medical misconduct probe.

READ ALSO: Doctor Visits, Examines Nnamdi Kanu In DSS Custody – Ejimakor

A criminal complaint accused Ortiz of injecting nerve-blocking and bronchodilation drugs into patient IV bags.

Surveillance video showed the doctor placing an IV bag in a stainless steel warmer outside an operating room on Aug. 19, 2022.

Minutes later, another staffer took the bag, and a patient soon after reportedly suffered a heart attack.

Ortiz’s colleague, beloved anesthesiologist Melanie Kaspar, took a contaminated IV bag home on June 21 to rehydrate due to an illness.

Almost immediately after inserting the IV into her vein, she suffered a serious cardiac event and died.

READ ALSO: Japa: 16000 Doctors Left Nigeria In Five Years – Minister

An autopsy showed she was fatally poisoned by bupivacaine, a numbing agent that the Justice Department said “is rarely abused” but used to alleviate pain during surgery.

“There’s no closure. My best friend is gone,” John Kaspar, Dr. Melanie Kaspar’s widower reportedly said shortly after the verdict. “I don’t think he ever looked me in the eye… It’s almost like you have so many emotions you can’t sift them out. You get flooded.”

The station reported that the witnesses called to the stand during the trial included the anesthesiologist who discovered the bags were tainted, John Kaspar, and a teen who suffered cardiac arrest during nose surgery.

The incidents first began two days after Oritz was notified of a disciplinary inquiry against him over his handling of a medical emergency.

READ ALSO: Nigeria May Adopt Chinese Water Transport System

Other doctors noted he complained the center was trying to “crucify” him.

FOX 4 reported that there were 13 patients between May and August 2022 who experienced similar cardiac emergencies, though prosecutors only charged the doctor with causing bodily injury to four of the patients in August.

A judge had ordered Ortiz be held before trial after prosecutors argued that he was a danger to the community by citing, in part, a 2015 incident in which he shot his neighbor’s dog in retaliation for the woman helping his then-girlfriend obtain a restraining order against him after a domestic violence incident.

Ortiz was convicted of four counts of tampering with consumer products resulting in serious bodily injury, one count of tampering with a consumer product, and five counts of intentional adulteration of a drug, prosecutors said.

Ortiz is expected to be sentenced in two to three months in prison.

 

Continue Reading

Trending