T B Joshua: Court adjourns criminal trial to Jan. 27

A Lagos State High Court in Ikeja on Tuesday adjourned further proceedings in the charges filed against the Registered Trustees of the Synagogue Church of All Nations and four other till January 27, 2016.

The adjournment followed applications by the 4th and 5th defendants in the case challenging the competence of the manner in which the charge was served on them.

When the matter was called in court on Tuesday, the prosecution team, led by the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions, Mrs. Idowu Alakija, informed the court that the order of the court had been complied with and the 4th and 5th defendants had been served.

But counsel for the 4th and 5th defendants, Chief E.L. Akpofure (SAN), contended that the service was only effected on Monday, despite that the order was made on December.

Besides, Akpofure argued that the manner in which the prosecution obtained the order for substituted service was unknown to law.

“The application they brought was an ex parte; we had no voice. What they have done, does the rule provide for it? If they went to pray for something that is not known to law and they went out to carry out the action, My Lord, we say it is a nullity,” Akpofure argued.