Police officers attached to the Lagos State Command have arrested a suspected fake lawyer identified as Godwin Eguabor while he was representing a client in a court in Lagos state.
Eguabor was said to have appeared before a magistrate court in the Badagry area of Lagos on Wednesday as legal counsel to a client.
Atule Elchors, the vice-chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Badagry branch, confirmed the incident, saying that he has been hearing a rumour that a fake lawyer was engaging in legal services in Badagry.
“I stood up and told the court that the person who appeared before the magistrate is not a legal practitioner,” the NBA vice-chairman was quoted as saying.
“And that we have been looking out for him.
“We asked for his supreme court number, which is the enrollment number of every lawyer, but he could not answer, he was just telling us stories.
“The worst thing is that the name he is using in court is different from the name he gave the police when they came to arrest him.”
Meanwhile, on Thursday, Eguabor was taken to the magistrate court by the police and charged for an offence bordering on illegal parade of oneself as a lawyer.
Edet Ekpo, the prosecutor representing the police, told the court that the offence contravened section 380 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State, 2015.
Subsequently, the chief magistrate admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N1 million with two sureties in like sum.
Chief magistrate Layeni ordered that one of the sureties should be a company’s managing director and present a statement of account of the company for one year.
He said that the sureties must deposit N25,000 to the account of Ikeja high court registrar.
He adjourned the case to February 19 for further hearing.
