A High Court sitting in Abakaliki Ebonyi State capital has discharged the chief priest of the popular Okija shrine of Anambra State, Maduabuchukwu Moghalu-Obi for lack of evidence.
The chief priest was accused of defrauding one of his clients identified as Jeffrey Okoro-Eze of the sum of N5 million.
Okoro-Eze had visited Obi’s shrine at Ogwugwuakpu Ubohiezike Okija Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State on January 4, 2023 and complained to him that he was owed the sum of N5 million by one Nkemakolam Odii and that he had refused to repay the money.
The victim had reportedly asked Obi to assist him in retrieving the money from his debtor with an agreement to give him (the chief priest) 10 percent of the money which is N500, 000.00, when recovered.
However, the discharged traditionalist was said to have assured his client that he would make Odii pay back the debt.
After sometime, the chief priest recovered the N5 million from Odii as agreed, via Access Bank account number 1691300822 but was said to have allegedly absconded with the fund after paying only N800, 000 to his client.
Meanwhile, the High Court sitting in Abakaliki presided over by Justice Frank Edem discharged the traditionalist because of the inability of the prosecution to prove the case of advance fee fraud against him beyond reasonable doubts.
In an interview with The Point after the court session, Moghalu-Obi explained that, “Jeffrey Okoro Eze came to my shrine at Ogwugwuakpu Ubohiezike Okija Ihiala LGA of Anambra state on 4th January 2023 and reported one Mr Nkemakolam Odii who took the sum of N5 million from his friend but refused to pay back.
“They entered into a contract with me to recover the said money and be given 10 per cent of the total sum, which is N500, 000.00. I had earlier requested that Mr Jeffery Okoro- Eze to give his account number where the sum of N4.5million only will be paid while N500,000.00, which is my 10% from the money as agreed will be transferred to my daughter’s account since I don’t have functional bank account .
“Jeffrey insisted that the whole sum of money be paid into my daughter’s account for them to receive the money in bulk. Before Mr Odii made the last payment into the account, I had travelled to Lagos State on medical grounds but instructed my daughter to transfer N4.5m accordingly.
“Jeffrey later called to notify me that they received only N800, 000,00 instead of N4.5m; I became annoyed with my daughter and pleaded with him to allow me return home to settle the issues amicably.
“When I came back from Lagos, I called him and pleaded for time to see my daughter because she was not at home then. Surprisingly, a police team from Ebonyi State came, arrested and took me to Abakaliki for advance fee fraud.
“The unnecessary withholding of the balance accruable to Mr Jeffery Okoro- Eze and his friend is not intentional but due to the bad conduct of my daughter,” the traditionalist added.
