Former National Publicity Secretary to the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Olisa Metuh, caused a lot of reactions from Nigerians after he reportedly collapsed during the continuation of this trail yesterday, Monday.
However, according to Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday, Metuh deliberately fell down as the court’s proceedings were about to start on Monday.
Justice Abang said this while correcting an impression created in the submissions of a defence lawyer in the case, Tochukwu Onwugbufor (SAN), who was urging the court to adjourn the matter due to Metuh’s absence on Tuesday, Punch reports.
The judge also reiterated that “the first defendant fell down on his own” when the prosecuting counsel, Mr. Sylvanus Tahir, made a submission similar to Onwugbufor’s.
“I would not know the person that directed the doctor to see the defendant when I rose briefly upon hearing that the defendant fell down on his own.
“The court directed him to sit down where he was but he decided to fall down on his own.”
His lawyer, Emeka Etiaba (SAN), who surprisingly re-appeared in the case barely 24 hours after announcing his withdrawal from the case, urged the court to grant a short adjournment in the event of Metuh’s absence from court on Tuesday.
The prosecuting counsel, Tahir, asked the judge to go on with the case in Metuh’s absence. The judge also interrupted the prosecuting counsel to make the same clarification when the prosecution was opposing the request for adjournment by the defence.
