Threat to life: Court orders personal service on retired Air Force officer

A Magistrate court sitting in Wuse Zone 2 in Abuja has ordered a personal service of court processes on a retired Group Captain, Peter Bilal, accused of threatening the life of one, Dr Israel Emmanuel.

The planned arraignment of the accused before Magistrate Oluwakemi Ariwoola on Friday was stalled due to his absence in court.

When the matter was called, Bilal’s counsel, Emeka Izima, told the magistrate that he appeared in court in protest due to the fact that his client was not properly served with the hearing notice in the matter, adding that his client was far away in Gombe but promised that he would be in court on the next adjourned date.

In his submission, Dr Oluwaseyi Leigh, representing the plaintiff, Dr Emmanuel disagreed with Izima, stressing that the proof of service of the hearing notice, showing that the defendant was served was in the court.

The Magistrate, after going through the court file, agreed with Izima that Bilal was not properly served, as, “the proof of service shows that the service is irregular; that he has not been served personally” and urged the court to direct that Bilal be served through substituted means or on the next adjourned date since he was represented in court.

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The Magistrate held that the nature of the case demanded personal service of court processes on Bilal and that Leigh could liaise with the court registry on how the defendant could be served and adjourned the matter till July 7, 2022, for Bilal’s arraignment.

Emmanuel, a medical doctor, had filed a direct criminal complaint with case number: CR/16/2022 against a former Nigerian Air Force (NAF) officer’ where-in he averred that Bilal, who also resides in the same estate where he lives, had continued to intimidate and harass him over allegation that he committed criminal trespass against him (Bilal).

According to him, he has suffered psychological torture, physical and psychological abuse, intimidation, untold and unquantifiable contempt, hatred, and ridicule from neighbours on account of the unrelenting and unremitting hostile attitude of the defendant (Bilal).

He said besides ignoring all moves by the chairman of the estate’s residents association and the executives to settle the matter, efforts by the police to intervene were rebuffed and that, the peace meeting by the estate executives collapsed.