Judge Cancels Arrest Warrants On Adoke, Etete Others

Justice D. Z. Senchi of Federal High Court, Jabi, Abuja has cancelled the arrest warrants earlier issued against a former justice minister, Mohammed Adoke, former petroleum minister, Dan Etete and four others .
The court ruled that the warrants would be re-issued after the EFCC must have served them by substituted means, the criminal charge levelled against them.
The warrant was issued in April over alleged abuse of office and money laundering by both Adoke and Etete in respect of the granting of the Oil Prospecting License (OPL) 245 to Shell and ENI.
Since all the defendants were out of Nigeria, it has been difficult for the Commission to serve them the charges or produce them in court.
The situation forced the EFCC to apply for a warrant of arrest against them, which was granted by the court, empowering the Nigeria Police Force and Interpol arrest them, anywhere they are seen.
Again, it has been difficult to execute the warrant as the defendants remained in hiding in foreign locations, leaving the court to contend with endless adjournments in the matter.
With the development, the defendants through their counsel went to court, asking that the warrant be set aside, based on the fact that the EFCC has so far not served them any charges.
Justice Senchi obliged them, saying the application was meritorious. The trial judge stated that the EFCC ought to have served the charges to the defendants before applying for the arrest warrant that was granted to it.