•••Vindicates former EFCC Boss, Magu
By John Ugo
The High Court sitting in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja has ordered FCMB to pay the sum of N540,500,000.00 in damages to Pastor Emmanuel Omale of the Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry and his wife, Deborah, over false claim that he laundered N573million for Magu.
The court’s verdict vindicated former Acting Chairman of EFCC, Ibrahim Magu, who denied complicity in the alleged fraud
The former Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), was under investigation by Presidential Committee on Audit of Recovered Assets committee headed by Ayo Salami, a former president of the appeal court, for allegedly mismanaging loot recovered by the anti-graft agency.
The panel claimed that an investigation by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) revealed that Magu paid N573m into Omale’s church’s account with which a property was allegedly bought in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Salami committee had accused Magu of using Omale to launder funds abroad which the Omale denied.
But Justice Yusuf Halilu in a landmark judgment on Tuesday held that FCMB recklessly breached the duty of care it owe to the claimants – Omale, his wife and their church.
The judgment was on the suit with number: FCT/HC/CV2541/2020 filed by Omale, his wife and the church.
But Justice Halilu noted that the evidence before the court showed that the bank admitted error in its report to the NFIU, of entries in Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry’s account.
The judge further held that the bank claimed that the purported N573m was wrongly reflected as credit entry in Divine Hand of God Prophetic Ministry’s account by its reporting system, which it recently upgraded.
Justice Halilu noted that the bank admitted the error, which occasioned incalculable damage to the reputation of Pastor Omale, his wife and their church, both within and outside the country.
The judge stated that the claimants provided sufficient evidence to establish a case of negligence against the bank.
He thereafter awarded N200m as aggravated damages; N140,500,000 as specific damages and N200m as general damages to be paid to the claimants.