45-Year-Old School Owner Arrested For Operating As Lawyer, Suspect Blames COVID-19

  

The Zamfara State Police Command has arrested one Chukwuka Jude for parading himself as a lawyer and operating a law chamber.

Parading the suspect before journalists in Gusau, the state capital, on Monday, the command’s spokesperson, Mohammed Shehu, said the suspect has been impersonating and cheating members of the public by posing as a lawyer.

Jude, according to Shehu, was arrested with a fake plastic identity card, a stamp, a letter head marked, “J. N Monyei and Co. Chamber.”

The police spokesman said, “On January 18, 2022 at about 16.30 hours, the Zamfara State Police Command received a complaint from the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association, Zamfara State chapter, that one Chukwuka Jude, 45 years old, was caught inside the Higher Sharia Court , Gusau while falsely acting as a lawyer to a client.

“Police detectives promptly arrested the suspect and brought him to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Gusau for discreet investigation.”

The police spokesman said preliminary investigation revealed that the suspect has been appearing in different courts at Kaura-Namoda, Birnin Magaji, Shinkafi and Gusau Local Government Areas.

“Prior to his arrest, the suspect deceived many people by collecting huge sum of money from them with the aim of defending them in courts,” he added.

The suspect told journalists that he decided to engage in impersonation to alleviate his sufferings caused by COVID-19.

He said he owned a private primary school which was shut down due to COVID-19 and insecurity.

He said, “I have a primary school where I used to get money to feed my family, but since the time it was shut down, I have nothing to do.

“So, I decided to impersonate as a lawyer and opened my chamber called J. N Monyei and Co chamber in Kaura-Namoda.”

-Punch