Court Awards Compensation To Contractor Maliciously Remanded Over School Feeding Project
•By OYENIYI AWOJOODU
IBADAN –— AN High Court in Oyo State, sitting in Ibadan, has awarded compensation to Mr. Emmanuel Olulola, Managing Director of Peerless Innovation Limited, who was maliciously remanded over a school feeding project in Oyo State.
Olulola was arrested and detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in 2019 on allegations of embezzling funds meant for the school feeding program, a claim he denied. He was later released on bail, but his accounts were frozen, and he was required to report to the EFCC regularly.
The trouble began in 2017 when Olulola had an agreement with Mr Daniel Nwafor to jointly front his company, Unified Support Global Services Limited, to bid for and won a contract to supply bread to schools in Oyo State under the federal government’s school feeding program.
Olulola claimed that he was the brain behind the project, but his partner, Mr. Daniel Nwafor, reported him to the authorities, alleging embezzlement.
Olulola was earlier arrested and detained by the police on November 25, 2018, and his car was impounded. He was bailed on the same day, but the ordeal had begun.
The EFCC later got involved, and Olulola’s accounts were frozen. He was arrested again on October 20, 2019, and detained for four days before being released on bail.
The case dragged on for years, with Olulola’s lawyers, Barr. Kunle Faleti, fighting for his client’s fundamental rights, while Barr. Kolawole Ola was handling the criminal case.
The court held that the role of Nwafor’s company, Unified Support Global Services Limited, in the contract was limited to receiving payments and disbursing funds to Olulola for project execution.
Olulola was subsequently cleared of embezzlement allegations after hearing from both parties, and the court ruled that his fundamental rights had been breached.
Justice M.O. Ishola eventually ruled in Olulola’s favour, awarding him 10 million Naira in damages against Nwafor and the EFCC.
The police were also ordered to pay 16.4 million Naira in damages for impounding Olulola’s car, while First City Monument Bank (FCMB) was ordered to pay 5 million Naira for freezing his account.
The Respondents pleaded to negotiate the payment of the awarded damages and FCMB opened negotiations with Olulola and eventually paid him Four million Naira as compensation. While Daniel Nwafor paid Olulola Five million Naira.
Similarly, Justice Bayo Taiwo ordered the dismissal of the criminal case against Olulola.
The EFCC and Nwafor were also ordered to make a public apology to Olulola.