Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered a bench (arrest) warrant for Abraham Ehizojie, a medical doctor at the health facility of Kuje Correctional Centre, over failure to produce the medical report of Binance executive, Tygran Gambaryan.
Ehizojie’s arrest warrant was ordered by the judge on Tuesday after the former failed to appear in court.
The development comes after Justice Nwite ordered the Nigerian Correctional Service doctor to produce the medical reports of the Tigran Gambaryan.
Nwite had warned the correctional service against non-compliance to the directive.
During Tuesday’s proceedings, Gambaryan’s lawyer, Mark Mordi disclosed that the order given to Ehizojie had not been obeyed.
When queried about the issue by Nwite, a prison official who brought Gambaryan to court stated that he delivered the instruction to the doctor last Tuesday.
“He is not here and I expected him to be here,” the prison official added.
Wading into the development, EFCC counsel Ekene Iheanacho informed the judge that he thought the doctor would be present in court.
Gambaryan’s counsel thereafter urged the court to issue a bench warrant against the doctor and that his client be taken to a hospital so that a diagnosis could be done to determine the state of his health.
“My client came in here in a wheelchair. He has been complaining of back pain. We need to be careful of the life in our hands,” he said.
After listening to the lawyers, Nwite said how unfortunate it was that government institutions treated his instructions with levity.
“I hereby make an order of bench warrant on the medical doctor at the Kuje Correctional Service, Abraham to appear before this court”, he added.
Nwite further directed that Gambaryan be taken to the Nizamiye hospital for a medical checkup for 24 hours, at any time of his choice but under full security.
The case was then adjourned to October 11, 2024, for continuation of trial.