The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ordered the arrest of a Director in the Process and Industrial Development Limited, P&ID, James Nolan, for jumping bail and failing to appear for trial.
Nolan, a British national, is standing trial, alongside Lurgi Consult Limited and others, in a money laundering case to the tune of $9.6 billion.
Justice Ahmed Mohammed, stated that Nolan has broken the terms of his bail conditions offered to him by the court and therefore revoked the bail while issuing a bench warrant for his arrest.
He also ordered his surety to appear in court on the next adjourned date, to justify why the bail bond should not be forfeited to the court.
Prosecution counsel, Bala Sanga, had earlier prepared to proceed with the cross-examination of Prosecuting Witness 1, Temitope Erinomo when the court was informed that the second defendant was nowhere to be found and efforts to ascertain his whereabouts proved abortive.
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The judge expressed dismay with the absence of Nolan in court, saying that the first defendant, Lurgi Consult Limited, has never been represented in court, as a corporate body, since the matter started.
He also told the court that, investigations by the EFCC showed that the property given by the surety, in Gwagwalada, Abuja, was not worth N100 million. He prayed the court to restrain the defence team from further delaying the case.
Responding to the absence of Nolan in court, defence counsel, Micheal Ajara claimed that his sudden disappearance was strange.
He prayed the court to grant the defence time to ascertain his whereabouts.
Justice Mohammed says that the court of law does not act in uncertainty except the lawyer presents facts.
