BASH ALI VS NEXIM BANK: LAWYER OPTIMISTIC OF WORLD CHAMP’S VICTORY
As the judgement in the case instituted against World Boxing Federation, WBF, cruiserweight champion, Bash Ali, OON by both the NEXIM Bank and the Commissioner of Police is fixed for Monday 24 July, lawyer to the boxing Ambassador, Mr. Anthony Agbonlahor is optimistic of his client’s victory.
The judgement will be delivered in the trumped up charge of illegal trespass case instituted against the boxer by NEXIM Bank and the Commissioner of Police before Senior Magistrate Abibat Bello at Dutse Alhaji, Abuja.
Lawyer Agbonlahor’s optimism might not be unconnected with the way the prosecution went about the case. According to him, while speaking with PM EXPRESS, the postponements of the judgement on two occasions was not the fault of the court as there was confusion in the camp of the prosecution.
His words: “The prosecution abandoned the case. There was confusion between the Office of the Attorney General and the Commissioner of Police. At a point, the prosecutor told the court that he could not find the case file. This made the lawyer in charge to be helpless.
“When we discovered this lapses, we moved that the case be closed and our client, Bash Ali be set free from all the charges. A discontinuance of the whole case so to say.
“With the way the prosecutor went about the case, there was no case against Bash Ali. The prosecutor brought three witnesses and they said there were four more who never come to testify till today. ”
The lawyer also threw more light on the case the World champion instituted against the Minister of Youth and Sports, Barrister Solomon Dalung and the Inspector General of Police.
The Edo state-born boxer alleged that the Minister ordered his security guards to brutalise him in his office at the Federal Secretariat in Abuja. He is demanding the sum of N1 billion damages from the injury he sustained from the assault which allegedly kept him in the hospital for days.
“Yes, the vacation of the judge is delaying the judgement. We has evidences we presented to the court and we believe that our client will be victorious in this case too when the judgement comes up on 2 September, ” Agbonlahor said.
On his travails since the two cases began, Bash Ali cannot but be thankful to many Nigerians who were solidly behind him. He said: “They will all fail. I thank Nigerians for their support. I appreciate all of you. We, the bold and fearless Nigerians, must reclaim the country from the corrupts in order to make the country great again.”