Businessman slumps in Lagos court as judge slams 6 months jail term
Justice Dehinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court in Lagos, on Wednesday, sentenced a businessman, Sunday Okorie, to six months imprisonment for failing to declare the sum of $299,000 and €100.
The judge also ordered the forfeiture of $299,000, and €100 to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Earlier, Okorie had suddenly collapsed mid-way into his case.
The commotion disrupted the court’s sitting, and all efforts by the lawyers and court staff who tried to revive him proved abortive.
Justice Dipeolu, who the case was before, got down from the bench and asked the court staff and the lawyers to take him to the court’s clinic.
But all efforts by the court’s clinic to revive him for over one hour did not yield any result. Consequently, he was taken to the hospital for further medical attention.
Okorie was, on Tuesday, arraigned before the court on four counts bordering on alleged money laundering and importation of counterfeit foreign currencies preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The EFCC’s prosecution counsel, Chineye Okezie, during the arraignment on Tuesday, told the court that Okorie allegedly failed to declare the sum of $299,000, and had counterfeit $250 and €100.
Okezie told the court that the defendant concealed the sum of $299,000, $250 and €100, counterfeit foreign currencies in relaxer containers to the Nigerian Customs Service at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja.
The prosecutor said that Okorie committed the alleged offences on March 19, 2025.
However, the convict pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
Following Okorie’s arraignment on Tuesday, Justice Dipeolu remanded the defendant at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre and adjourned the matter till Wednesday, for trial.
At the resumed trial of the matter on Wednesday, the defence counsel, Mr Uche Okoronkwo, informed the court of the intention of the defendant to change his plea from not guilty to guilty and this position was corroborated by the prosecutor who also told the court that the prosecution would be amending the charge by withdrawing two of the four counts.
She said, “Given the defendant’s wish to change his plea, from not guilty to guilty to counts one and two, the commission would like to withdraw counts three and four.”
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Justice Dipeolu granted the request to withdraw counts three and four.
The court then struck out counts three and four of the charge and ordered that the remaining two counts be read to the defendant so that he could take his plea afresh.
While the court registrar was about to read the charge, he asked Okorie if he understood the English language, but the defendant didn’t respond and his breathing was noticed to have changed, and he suddenly slumped inside the dock.
Immediately, the defendant slumped, and his wife and daughter, who were present in the courtroom room, started crying!
Mrs Okorie knelt down and started crying and praying, saying, “I cancel.” When she was asked to go close to her husband and call him, she said she couldn’t face it.
Okorie was then rushed to the court’s clinic, where the doctor and other staff at the clinic battled for about one hour to revive him, but all their efforts proved abortive as the defendant could not regain consciousness.
He was later evacuated to the hospital for further medical attention.
Consequently, Justice Dipeolu stood down the trial.
After receiving medical attention, the convict returned to the court to take his plea.
When the charge was read to him, he pleaded guilty to the two counts against him.
Consequently, the prosecution reviewed the facts of the case through a customs officer attached to the Murtala Mohammed International Airport anti-money laundering unit, Wanaowe Tonbo.
Tonbo, in his testimony, said that on March 19, 2025, the convict approached the currency declaration, and he was asked how much was on him. He declared $299,000 which he filled in the currency declaration form.
He said, “However, we were not convinced so we went on further profiling as he arrived from South Africa with four bags, three big and one small cross bag.
“When we checked the bag, we discovered various sums concealed.
“Upon bringing out the whole money, and after it was counted, we discovered it amounted to N299,000, which includes $250 counterfeited and €100.
“Following the discovery, we called our Area Controller at the MMA, who directed that we should not allow the passenger to go. We later handed the passenger over to the EFCC”.
Okezie then tendered the currency declaration form and the customs handover letter in evidence, and both were admitted in evidence.
Also, an EFCC investigator, Felicia Paulvic, who confirmed that the convict was handed over to the commission on March 21, 2025, narrated the role she played in the matter.
The witness added that when asked why he did not declare all the money on him, he said it was given to him by friends in South Africa to give to a Bureau de Change operator in Nigeria, that he did not know the actual amount.
Following their evidence, the prosecutor asked the court to convict Okorie as charged.
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