BY Chinenyeh Ozor

The people of Igboeze North in Enugu State have asked the Attorney-General of Enugu State, Mr. Anthony Ani, to resign his appointment for allegedly lying to the people over the status of the kidnap case against the current Chairman of the local government, Mr. Bonaventure Onuh and three others.

This was contained in a statement by the Chairman of Igboeze People’s Assembly, IPA, Chief Ernest Ugwu.

The police had, late last year, charged Mr. Onuh, Nwani Ugwu, one Jango and one Malachy before Justice A. O. Onovo of Nsukka High Court for allegedly attempting to kidnap the Branch Manager of then Bank PHB, Mr. Kevin Ezeja, in 2009.

But the Attorney-General, who was alleged to be counsel to Onuh while in private practice, allegedly withdrew the case to enable Onu contest the last local government election in the state.

NBA wades in
The action, however, prompted Prof. Malachy Ukwueze, Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Nsukka, to express outrage over the manner of withdrawal of the case. He lampooned Mr. Ani’s action, saying that it would send a wrong message about the fight to rid the society of criminal activities.

According to Ukwueze, Onuh was the Attorney-General’s client when he (AG) was in private practice, wondering why he indicated his intention to enter nolle prosequi (do not try), in a matter as serious as alleged attempted kidnapping.

The case
Relying on the application by the state for the case to be struck out, Justice Onovo in an order dated November 17, 2011, stated: “Upon this case coming up for hearing, Onyema Okpara (Esq) for the state and submission of Dan Nduka with G. Ezeme (Esq) for the first accused person, it is hereby ordered as follows:  “That the information is hereby struck out on the application of the state; that all the accused persons are hereby discharged.’’

However, Ani denied ever withdrawing the matter. He described the NBA’s claim as spurious. According to Ani, the allegation by NBA Chairman, Prof. Ukwueze, that he used his office to interfere in the trial of the chairmanship candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the local government election was unfounded and untrue.

Denial
The Attorney-General  expressed shock at the allegation, declaring that he was never counsel to Mr. Onuh when he was in private practice and that at no time did he indicate any intention to stop the trial as alleged by the Nsukka NBA Chairman.

In a statement, Ani said: “Let me state very clearly that Mr. Bonaventure Onuh was never my client while I was in private practice and has no such relationship with my law firm even now. I am not, and have never been interested in any particular case as the Attorney-General of Enugu State.”

Ani said all he could recall about the case was that there was a petition by counsel to one of the accused persons in the case referred to in the publication, on the basis of which he directed that the information already filed be withdrawn and the case referred to the police for further investigation.

Assurrance
The Attorney-General assured the public that Enugu State Government had zero tolerance for any form of criminal activities “and will stop at nothing” to ensure that any person, no matter how highly placed, involved in any criminal activity will be fully prosecuted through his office.