By victor madmere
The magistrate court 1 sitting in Owerri over the weekend denied the alleged baby factory operator Dr James Ezuma bail, in an eighteen (18) count charges filed by the state in suit number OW/556/2013 against the accused James Ezuma.
Earlier, counsel to the accused had brought an application seeking the order of the court to grant the accused bail, submitting that the charges are bailable offences.
Opposing the application, the prosecutor Barr. B. Welor urged the Magistrate to over look the application considering the fact that the accused had earlier been charged with capital offences of possession of prohibited fired-arm and murder.
In her ruling, the magistrate, Mrs Isiguzo averred that the court can not grant the accused bail due to the nature of the alleged offences, which the magistrate court has no jurisdiction to handle. Stating that the case be sent to the High Court, and adjourned to the 13th January 2014.
In a related development another accused person in suit no OW/557c/201223 Mrs Chioma Ezuma, the wife to Dr James Ezuma who faced two count charges was granted bail by the court at the cost of two hundred thousand naira (N200,000), after pleading not guilty of the charges. Magistrate Isiguzo, delivering her ruling struck out one of the too charges for wrong filing of suit. She stated that the struck out charge is supposed to be filed in high court not in magistrate court.
