A former governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Walter Ubaka Okeke has been remanded at the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre, Port Harcourt, Rivers State after being nabbed by the Police in Abuja.

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF), acting on a bench warrant issued by a Rivers State Chief Magistrate Court sitting in Port Harcourt, arrested Okeke and brought him to court to face charges of theft of drilling pipes worth N800 million.

Chief Magistrate A. O. Amadi-Nna, who had earlier issued a bench warrant for his arrest, instantly ordered that Okeke be remanded at the Correctional Centre when Okeke was produced before him on Monday, November 14, 2022 and adjourned the case to Thursday, December 8, 2022.

The Police prosecutor, Godday Amadi, had told the Chief Magistrate how the Police succeeded in executing the bench warrant by arresting the accused inn far away Abuja and producing him in court.

Okeke, who hails from Enugwu Village of Nanka in Orumba North Local Council Area, was charged for stealing oil drilling pipes and other heavy duty equipment worth over N800 million.

He had attempted to stall the case by going to the State High Court to seek the enforcement of his fundamental human rights but that attempt failed. This might have led to his failure to be present in the Chief Magistrate Court to answer to the charge of stealing. 

Checks by Kristina Reports reveal that trouble began for the accused, Walter Ubaka Okeke, when the complainant, Ifeanyi Amaonye, got wind of the fact that his equipment was being carted away in trucks by Okeke’s landlord at his compound in the Trans Amadi area of Port Harcourt where they were kept.

The police were brought in but the defendant had gone amiss. A bench warrant and warrant of arrest were issued by the Chief Magistrate at Court 10 in Port Harcourt, who gave a ruling in a preliminary objection raised by the defence counsel, Oluchukwu Ulasi.

The charge sheet filed on May 27, 2022 and sighted by Kristina Reports stated that; “You, Walter Ubaka Okeke, and others now at large, did conspire to commit felony to wit: stealing; and, therefore, committed an offence punishable under Section 516A of the Criminal Code Law Cap 37 Vol 2, Laws of Rivers State”.

The second count mentioned the value of the alleged stolen property to be over N800m, items said to be property of a Port Harcourt business man, Ifeanyi Amaonye, kept in the open at the accused’s compound in Trans-Amadi. Trial is to commence on Thursday, December 8, 2022.