By Dada Ahmed in Lokoja.
There was a mild drama in a Kogi High court on Thursday, when an ex-banker set tongues wagging as he kept fumbling over the meaning of the word “Collateral.”
The ex-banker, John Audu, was been led in evidence by Prosecution Counsel, Mr. S.I. Ikutanwa, in a case of alleged cheating before Justice Etsu Umar of High Court VI, Lokoja, when the mild drama ensued.
Audu was invited as the 5th and last Prosecution Witness (PW5) against a 38-year-old man, Abdulkareem Isah, who allegedly defrauded his ex-finance, Hassana Sule of N1.3 million.
During a cross examination, the Defense Counsel, Mr M.S. Yusuf, had asked him to tell the court what his Client, Hassan Sule gave to His company, Happy People and Savings Cooperative Society before granting the loan of N1.3m to her sometimes in July 2019.
Audu then began the drama, “Collateral is a property some has Bond, bottles and so on at a place he or she sales to the public.
“No! She sales minerals and so on in her place of business. Mm yes, I know collateral, that’s is it my Lord, ” Audu mumbled.
The court room was thrown into laughter as Audu kept fumbling over and over again.
The drama kept on for quite some minutes between the Defense Counsel and Audu until the Judge intervened and explained explicitly to him that he shouted, “yes I am back now I know it.”
The witness then said, “collateral is a something or property you give before obtaining a loan in a bank or financial institution like ours, Happy Cooperative Society.”
However, collateral is something (such as properties) pledged by a borrower to protect the interests of the lender, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary.
Our Correspondent reports that it took the efforts of the Judge, who chipped in during the court proceeding to educate Audu on the concept of collateral before Audu could give correct answer.
Audu, had told the court that he worked with the defunct Lobi bank in Makurdi, Benue for some years before joining the cooperative society in 2018.
He, however, said that Sule was given six months to pay back the loan she accessed in 2019, adding that she had not paid the facility which he noted had accrued with an interest of N500,000.
The accused, Isa, in his defence, denied collecting any money from Sule while answering questions from the prosecuting counsel, Barrister S.I Ikutanwa.
Isa told the court that though he proposed to marry Hassana initially, he later put off the idea because he saw another man with her a statement corroborated by his uncle,Eneojo Yusuf, who was the second defence witness in the case.
Justice Umar, who noted an uncomplimentary remarks made by one of the counsels in the case warmed that his court would not tolerate such a remark in his court any more.
“Marriage is a serious matter and nobody should joke about it, ” he stressed.
The Judge after taken two defense witnesses, adjourned the case to June 16 for presentation of written address by the two counsels.
It be recalled that Abdulkareem Isah ,a resident of Galili in Lokoja Local Government Area of Kogi State, had appeared before Justice Etsu Umar,charged with two- count charge bordering on fraud in connection with the case.
The Prosecution Counsel, S.I. Ikutanwa, told the court that Isah, on July 15, 2019, collected N1.3 million from Sule for, a business deal with a promise to pay the money in six months but failed to honour his promise.
