Fleeing PDP Guber Contestant Arrested In Abuja, Sent To PH Correctional Centre Over Alleged Theft

A  onetime Anambra State governorship aspirant, Walter Ubaka Okeke, who was on bench warrant from a Port Harcourt Chief Magistrate for case of theft, has been arrested and now ordered to proceed to the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre.

The order came Monday, November 14, 2022, from the Chief Magistrate, A.O. Amadi Nna, when Okeke was produced before him at about 11.25am.

The police prosecutor, Godday Amadi, had told the Chief Magistrate how the police succeeded in arresting the man and how the accused was right there in court.

The Chief Magistrate wasted no time in ordering that “Walter Ubaka Okeke be locked up at the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre till day of hearing being December 8, 2022”.

Okeke was charged for stealing oil drilling pipes and other heavy duty equipment worth over N800 million. The case was stalled because the accused went to the high court to enforce his fundamental human right and when that failed, he was not present in the Chief Magistrate court to answer to the charge of stealing.

The accused hails from Enugwu village of Nanka in Orumba North local council area, but lives in his own compound at the Trans-Amadi area of the Garden City where the complainant allegedly stocked the oil drilling pipes and other heavy industrial equipment.

The matter began when the complainant, Ifeanyi Amaonye, got wind that his equipment were being carted away in trucks by the landlord of the compound where they were kept.

The police was brought in. The bench warrant and warrant of arrest were issued by the Chief Magistrate at Court 10 in Port Harcourt. The Chief Magistrate gave a ruling in a preliminary objection raised by the Defence counsel, Oluchukwu Ulasi.

The charge sheet filed on May 27, 2022, stated that; “You, Walter Ubaka Okeke, and others now at large, did conspire to commit felony to wit: stealing; and therefore committed an offence punishable under Section 516A of the Criminal Code Law Cap 37 Vol 2, Laws of Rivers State”.

The second count mentioned the value of the alleged stolen property to be over N800m, items said to be property of a Port Harcourt business man, Ifeanyi Amaonye, kept in the open at the accused’s compound in Trans-Amadi.

Correspondent Anita Ogona reports that the Chief Magistrate ordered that Walter be kept in PH correctional center  pending Trial date expected to commence on December 8, 2022.