A DELTA Magistrate Court sitting in Ibusa, Delta State has issued a warrant for the arrest of Mr. Rueben Raleigh Ogode earlier facing trial for unlawfully installing and parading himself as a traditional ruler within the Ughievwen Kingdom contrary to the Traditional Rulers Council and Chieftaincy law of the state.
The defendant, who was initially charged to the Magistrate Court in Otu-Jeremi before the charge was transferred to the Chief Magistrate Court, Ibusa, failed to appear before the court on the adjourned date even when his counsel was in court.
The court, which sat Thursday, had before now obliged counsel to the defendant an adjournment on the ground of ill health and ordered the council to take the Registrar of the Court to the hospital bed to sight the defendant.
Counsel to the Defendant failed to comply with the order of the court.
At the resumed hearing on Thursday, the prosecutor applied to the court for the issuance of a bench warrant for the arrest of the Defendant and to bring him before the court to face his trial.
The application was granted by the court for lack of any cogent reasons for the absence of the defendant.
The court has adjourned the matter to January 18, 2021, for further hearing.