A businessman and a lawyer, Ayoola Gam-Ikon, has urged a Lagos State High Court in Ikeja to order a former Super Eagles Captain, Kanu Nwankwo, to pay him N1billion for what the claimant termed his malicious prosecution by the police.
Gam-Ikon claimed to have on March 5, 2013 been arraigned on 19 counts of fraud by the police following a complaint against him by Nwankwo.
He, however, alleged that the entire charges were struck out on July 30, 2015 by the trial chief magistrate, following the legal advice of the Federal Director of Public Prosecutions, who absolved the claimant of the alleged offences.
But Gam-Ikon, who claimed to have lost valuable time and years of his prime life attending court and facing trial, urged the court to award damages to him against Nwankwo in the sum of N1billion.
The claimant urged the court to order Nwankwo to pay an interest of 22 per cent on the claimed sum from December 15, 2015 till the judgment day and 10 per cent interest on the claimed sum from judgment day till the claimed sum will be fully paid.
“The claimant was devastated by the effect of his arraignment, imprisonment at Ikoyi prison during the perfection of bail and pendency of a criminal charge and has been running from one hospital to the other for medical assistance owing to his debilitating ill health and has only just started showing signs of improvement,” Gam-Ikon claimed in his suit.
The claimant claimed to have known Nwankwo while he was a banker with the Gulf Bank of Nigeria Plc, where he alleged Nwankwo had an account and he used to offer him financial management advice.
He also alleged that he later entered into hotel business with Nwankwo after he quit his job as a banker.
The claimant also alleged that he and Nwankwo incorporated “The Hardley Apartments Limited” on April 22, 2004 on a shareholding agreement of 70 per cent to Nwankwo and 30 per cent to him.
He stated that in the course of running the business they saw the need for expansion leading them to obtain a bank loan of N457million to raise the hotel to the five-star status.
Trouble, he claimed started between him and Nwankwo in the course of the loan repayment, leading in his prosecution.
The case, which was filed on Tuesday, has not been assigned to any judge.
