The court said Mr. Ajudua should not be made to suffer unnecessarily.
A Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja, Tuesday, granted bail to alleged fraudster, Fred Ajudua.
Ganiyu Safari, the vacation judge hearing Mr. Ajudua’s bail application, said that the defendant must be alive to face trial.
“The first defendant should not be made to suffer due to his health condition while undergoing trial,” said the judge.
“If he dies in custody, his trial will come to an end,” he added.
Mr. Ajudua, 52, and Charles Orie are accused by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of defrauding Remy Cina and Pierre Vijgen, two Dutch businessmen, of $1.69 million(N270 million).
The defendant had been denied bail last June by Olubunmi Oyewole, the trial judge, despite Mr. Ajudua’s plea that he was surviving on just one kidney.
Mr. Oyewole noted that the defendant has a high propensity to jump bail after he allegedly absconded during trial in 2005.
Mr. Ajudua was arraigned before Mr. Oyewole in 2003.
In 2005, the court granted him bail to seek medical attention in India over his kidney ailment.
Mr. Ajudua allegedly absconded and never appeared in court again until 2013.
While claiming that his client never jumped bail, Olalekan Ojo, Mr. Ajudua’s lawyer, said that the circumstances surrounding the refusal of bail, three months ago, has changed.
Last month, Mr. Ajudua was rushed to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital(LUTH) after he began passing blood in his urine.
Tuesday’s bail was set at N50 million with two sureties in like sum, who must have evidence of tax payment to the Lagos State government.
Mr. Ajudua was also forbidden from travelling outside Nigeria without the court’s permission, the judge said.
Speaking to journalists after the ruling, Mr. Ojo said that his client will not “run away.”
“Fred had the opportunity to run away, never to return to Nigeria, when he travelled out,” Mr. Ojo said.
“But he surrendered himself because he wants to clear his name,” he added.
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