Court Orders Arrest Of Cross Country Bus Owner

A Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja has, again, issued a bench warrant against the Managing Director of Cross Country Limited, Mr Bube Okorodudu.

Okorodudu failed to appear in court, on Tuesday, to take his plea over an alleged N82.8 million theft charge.

It will be recalled that Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo gave an order, directing the police to arrest and produce Okorodudu before the court on July 8 for his arraignment. 

When the matter was called on Tuesday, counsel for the first defendant, Cheif Robert Clarke, told the court that the same matter was at the Court of Appeal, due to reasons bordering on jurisdiction.

Counsel for the first defendant also prayed the court to adjourn the matter till the Court of Appeal decides on the question of jurisdiction of the matter.

“The question of jurisdiction is a very fundamental issue. We pray the court to adjourn the matter until the decision of the Court of Appeal,” he said.

While responding to the whereabouts of the first defendant, Chief Clarke pointed out that the defendant (Okorodudu) could not come to court to take his plea because he was sick, and produced a medical report to back the authenticity of the claim.

However, counsel for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFFC), Emmanuel Jackson told the court that there was the need to clarify the sequence of proceedings since there were pending applications before the court. 

“The matter was adjourned till today for arraignment which means the issue of adjournment should be paramount. We are asking the court to discountenance the medical report because findings by our medical team revealed that the said medical report did not emanate from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).”

He also prayed the court to give the EFFC order to arrest and compel to appear in court, Babatunde Koya, who deposed to the medical report. 

“We pray the court to discountenance the medical report based on the reasonable suspicion by the prosecution that the medical report was unlawfully procured. There is the need to clarify the source of the medical report in order not to mislead the court,” he said.

In his ruling, Justice Akapo ordered that Okorodudu be arrested and produced in court, because his absence could not be explained.

Justice Akapo directed the police to arrest and produce Okorodudu before the court on July 14 for his arraignment