The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has adjourned till April 29 for the re-arraignment of Precious Chikwendu on allegations bordering on attempted murder of her former husband, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, and children. Justice Ekwo adjourned the matter shortly after the police prosecutor, John Ijagbemi, applied for the amended charge to be read to defendants for them to take their plea. But the judge said that the re-arraignment would not go on today, adjourning the case until April 29 for plea to be taken.
The defendant alongside others, will be re-arraigned by the police authorities before Justice Inyang Ekwo on 14-count charge. Other defendants in the trial include Emmanuel Anakan, Prisca Chikwendu and Osakwe Azubuike as 1st, 3rd and 4th defendants respectively, while others are said to be at large. The four defendants were earlier arraigned before the court on Feb. 14 on 13 counts. Fanl-Kayode, the former Minister of Aviation is the nominal complainant in the matter. Chikwendu was alleged to have carried two kitchen knives threatening to kill Fani-Kayode, the children and other occupants of the house at Asokoro within the court jurisdiction.
An offence said to be punishable under Section 229 of the Penal Code Law. She was also accused of making false allegations on Nov. 24, 2018 with doctored pictures with intent to deceive members of the public and make them believe that the injuries in the pictures were inflicted on her by her ex-husband. Besides, Chikwendu was alleged to have “criminally uploaded doctored/photo-shopped pictures” of her biological child, Liam Femi Fani-Kayode, who was four years old, in order to deceive Reyes members of the public that the child sustained injury on his forehead.
According to the charge, the offence is punishable under Section 24 (1) (b) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention Etc) Act 2015. The defendants were further alleged to have committed offences bordering on cybercrime, intimidation to kill the former minister by use of Internet.
