Appear in Court if you have nothing to hide,” NLRF tells Uwajeh

…Urges IGP to disregard petitions
The Nigerian Lawyers Renaissance Forum(NLRF), has urged the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris to disregard all distractions and prosecute one Mr. Victor Uwajeh on charges of fraud, forgery and possession of false documents for which he has been charged before the Federal High Court Abuja.

In a statement issued by (NLRF) and signed by Barrister Prince Deji Atanda and Barrister Ike Tagbo, the forum also urged Senator Andy Uba who Uwajeh attempted to blackmail, and the IGP not to bow to pressures from certain quarter seeking to drop the charge against Uwajeh.

They alleged that such pressures have been the tactics of fraudsters in prowl across the country who are blackmailing innocent citizens with forged documents .

The statement read as follows “ It has come to our notice that with the intended prosecution of one Victor Uwajeh who is perhaps Nigeria’s King of blackmailers and forgers, the country may just be rid of such elements who have taken blackmail as their stock in trade.

We wish to note that several distinguished Nigerians of repute have fallen victim to this criminal and have complied not because the blackmail had any substance but because they didn’t want any form of bad publicity.

“Thankfully, for us and for many other who will never again fall victim to such a fellow, Senator Uba stood his ground and even reported the matter to the Inspector General of Police, who ordered an investigation and found out that documents and allegations tendered by Uwajeh were false and obtained via forgery.

“This was followed with the serving of a criminal summons to which Mr. Uwajeh has artfully dodged knowing that the game is over.”

“Sadly, owing to the fact that we have some bad eggs still in the legal profession as does every other profession, we were surprised when we read in the online media that petitions had been written accusing the IGP of scuttling the investigation in favour of Senator Uba.”

“We are much saddened by this move as it appears to be an attempt to wear upon Uwajeh the toga of a victim whereas he is the predator.”

“We are therefore calling on the IGP and other interested parties to shun such distractions and carry out their conventional duties.

If indeed Uwajeh does not have a case to answer, why then is he on the run? Why is he avoiding been served the sermons? Like it is said, a clear conscience fears no accusation, Uwajeh should make himself available for service of the criminal summons.”

“We are also forwarding a petition to the Nigerian Bar Association’s disciplinary committee to sanction some of these lawyers who are smearing the legal practice. “

It should be recalled that Mr. Uwajeh had in an attempt to blackmail Senator Uba alleged that the Senator representing Anambra South Senatorial district had forged his WAEC certificate.

Senator Uba promptly responded to the news by reporting the matter to the police who invited Uwajeh to present his own part of the case.

The Case was then investigated by the police who found that the documents tendered by Uwajeh were forged. The federal government consequently filed a four count criminal charge bordering on fraud, possession of false documents and forgery against Uwajeh .

However, the suspect has since invade service of the charge by the prosecuting counsel A.K Alilu.