27/05/2016

Omatseye: From Range Rover to prison van



Raymond Omatseye, a former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, surely knew last Friday, May 20, 2016, was not an ordinary day. One could deduce this much from the way he appeared with his handful of well-wishers at the Lagos Federal High Court on Onyikan Abayomi Drive, Ikoyi, where he had been standing trial for about four years for a contract scam of N1.5bn.

Just like those who came with him, who were all well-dressed, Omatseye wore a white native top and trousers. He looked pristine and especially so with his clean-shaven head. Unlike his regular appearance, on Friday, he had a sideburn, with a tinge of grey hair, which made him look beautiful. Well, that day was the day of final judgment in the trial that had lasted for about four years and it could well be a day of celebration if he was acquitted and discharged by Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia, just like a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, was discharged and acquitted by the same judge last year July.
On the day that Fani-Kayode was discharged and acquitted, Omatseye was one of those on hand to congratulate him.
Fani-Kayode’s acquittal must have been a source of hope to him, especially after his hope of being freed was first dashed on February 2, 2015 when the judge dismissed his no-case submission and told him that he had a case to answer.
On Friday, as he sat on a chair in the front of the large courtroom under the slender voice of the judge, one could hardly tell whether Omatseye allowed himself to entertain the fear that the verdict might go against him. Of course, like an average Nigerian who is religious and prays about virtually everything, including that “the NEPA may bring the light,” Omatseye was expected to have held a prayer session at home with his loved ones in the early hours of Friday before coming to court. They could have prayed to God to let the judgment go in his favour, even though they were aware that the judge had written the judgment weeks or at least days before and had already sealed his fate.
The judge had been reading the judgment for over three hours and no one could guess yet where the pendulum would swing. Then, without any alteration in her tone of voice or her countenance, the judge said she found the allegations brought against Omatseye proven. At that point, it was no longer difficult to see Omatseye’s fear.  He held his head and covered his mouth with his hands, looking intently at his lawyer, who sat a short distance away from him and was signaling to him to calm down. And then rather, unemotionally, the judge pronounced him guilty as charged and minutes later, the judge said, “The convict is hereby sentenced to five years imprisonment. I’d like to rise for five minutes to take water before I return to take the other cases. The court shall rise.”
Where he stood in the front of the courtroom, Omatseye was approached by khaki-wearing prison officers, marking the beginning of his trip to prison. On his way to the holding cell, in the front of which the prison bus was waiting,  Omatseye was walked past the Range Rover in which he was driven to court just hours ago.

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