Manslaughter: Court Fixes February 23 To Rule On Autodealer’s Bail Application

Justice Nicole Clay of High Court of Lagos State in Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) yesterday fixed February 23, 2023, to deliver a ruling on the bail application instituted by a Lagos-based auto dealer, Ikechukwu Ogbonna, accused of causing the death of his wife, Abimbola Martins Ogbonna, in a fire incident.

It would be recalled that Ogbonna, who was earlier remanded by an Ebute-Metta Magistrate’s Court over a manslaughter charge slammed on him by the Lagos State Government following the death of his wife at their Lekki residence last October, failed in his bid to get a reprieve from prison custody.

Pending his formal arraignment before a yet-to-be-assigned judge, Ogbonna sought for bail to care for his children. In moving Ogbonna’s bail application, his counsel, Victor Ogude (SAN), prayed the court to grant his client bail to enable him support his children financially.

The SAN claimed that the charge of manslaughter was bailable; therefore, his client should be released from remand. In an affidavit in support of the bail request deposed to by Ogbonna’s brother, Ifeanyi Elvis Ogbonna, he argued that the applicant was emotionally and psychologically drained in custody without being arraigned. But opposing the bail application, the lawyer for the Lagos State Government, Dr Babajide Martins, stated that Ogbonna was a flight risk and could flee from justice if granted bail based on the severity of the punishment for the offence.