Justice Babs Kuewumi of the Federal High Court, Lagos, yesterday granted permission to an official of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Mrs. Adegorite Olumuyiwa, who is facing a N2.8 billion fraud charge, to embark on a foreign medical trip. The judge made the order following Olumuyiwa’s application through her counsel, Mr. A. B. Onifade, seeking the release of her passport to enable her travel to Dubai for medical treatment. 


Onifade told the court during hearing last Monday that his client was suffering from acute sinusitis, asthma and hypertensive heart disease. 
He said she had earlier scheduled a medical appointment with her doctor at the Saudi-German Hospital Group and had already purchased an air ticket before she was arrested in April.


Her health, he added, had since suffered a decline and he urged Justice Kuewumi to order the EFCC to release her passport to enable her travel abroad, assuring that she would not jump bail or abscond. 
”The fifth defendant will be away for a maximum of four weeks. We urge Your Lordship to exercise discretion in favour of the fifth defendant,” Onifade said. 
But the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) vehemently opposed the application, saying the defendant would abscond from there. However, the judge, held in a short ruling that Olumuyiwa’s application dated June 15, was meritorious.


The judge observed that her application contained eight grounds in 19 paragraphs and was supported by documents of her medical history as well as travel documents. 
”The applicant also filed an affidavit of extreme urgency for travel to the Saudi-German Hospital in Dubai, for medical treatment,” Justice Kuewumi noted. 
The court held that the applicant was entitled to enjoy the constitutionally guaranteed presumption of innocence until proven guilty. 
”It will be in the overall interest of justice to allow the applicant travel. Furthermore, the court is on vacation and the substantive matter has already been adjourned till after vacation. Health is wealth.

The defendant is hereby granted leave to travel to Dubai for specialised medical treatment. She is given four weeks to embark on the trip to Dubai and return to Nigeria,” Justice Kuewumi held. 
The judge further ordered the EFCC to release immediately the defendant’s international passport. 
It also ordered that after the trip, the defendant must deposit the passport in the court’s custody. 
Olumuyiwa, the fifth defendant in the suit, was arraigned by the EFCC on April 12, alongside NAMA’s Managing Director, Ibrahim Abdusalam, and five other NAMA officials for an alleged N2.8bn fraud perpetrated within NAMA between August 2013 and January 2016.


The five others are Agbolade Segun, Clara Aliche, Joy Adegorite, Bola Akinribido and Sesebor Abiodun. 
Also joined as defendants are five companies, namely: Randville Investment Limited; Multeng Travels and Tours Limited; Delosa Limited; Airsea Delivery Limited and Sea Schedule System Limited. 
They are standing trial on a 21-count charge bordering on conspiracy, advanced fee fraud and money laundering. 
They denied the charge and were granted N20m bail each with one surety each in the like sum. 
They were also ordered to deposit their passports in the custody of the court until the conclusion of the trial.