It was mild drama that took place recently on the premises of Enugu Magistrate Court, on Thursday after a state counsel defending a female client in a case of alleged battery by her husband, asked the police to arrest and detain her client.
The counsel, Mrs Nkechinyere Aidenojie nee Aniebonam, asked the police to arrest her client, one Mrs. Patience Amaka Ede, accusing her of taking her (lawyer’s) picture together with her (client’s) husband.
The client suspected that her lawyer has had an intimate relationship with her husband, who was the alleged abuser in the case.
Amaka’s husband, Evidence Nwachukwu is a Defendant in the case while Aidenojie is Amaka’s lawyer.
It was gathered that following an argument, Amaka’s husband, Evidence, battered her and she lost a five-month pregnancy in the process. She was reportedly pregnant with twins.
As a result of the incident, Evidence was held in prison custody but was later released under alleged questionable circumstances.
At the resumed hearing on Thursday, the case took a twist when Amaka arrived at the court with her father, Patrick Ogenyi Ede and her defence lawyer, Mrs Aidenojie informed her for the fourth time that the court would not sit. Instantly, she became furious and told her counsel that she did not understand what was going on any longer.
Then she got angry when her counsel suggested she reconcile with her husband. The lawyer claimed that he (her husband) was still in love with her, but Amaka flared up, an eyewitness told SaharaReporters.
“Her anger became vicious when she later saw her lawyer having in a hearty chat with the husband. In confidence, she concluded that the counsel must have been compromised and decided to take their picture with her mobile phone.
“Unknown to her, her lawyer saw her taking the picture and accosted her, called the police and got her arrested,”
the witness who gave his name as Nweze disclosed.
Speaking from the Central Police Station, Enugu, where she is being detained, Amaka acknowledged that she took the picture as evidence to show the Director of Public Prosecutions that her lawyer had been compromised in her case.
Although, she later apologised at the police station for her misdemeanor, the police and her counsel insisted that she must remain in detention.
When SaharaReporters contacted the counsel, Mrs Aidenojie about the incident, she said her client insulted her when she saw her and her husband talking.
According to her, she was only telling him when next their matter would come up in court and nothing more.
“The girl insulted me so much today when she saw me talking with her husband. Did she know what I was discussing with him that gave her the audacity to start taking my picture?” she explained.
