Nigerian in court on cocaine charge
A 32-year-old Nigerian man appeared before a Port-of-Spain magistrate yesterday where he was denied bail after an indictable charge of possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking was read to him. Onyia Okley Festus stood before Magistrate Andrew Stroude in the Port-of-Spain Four B Court where the details of the charge were read to him. According to the police prosecutor, Festus was held with 12 packages of headphones, each of which contained the illegal substance, at the corner of El Socorro Extension and the Churchill Roosevelt Highway on December 1. The seized items have been sent to the Forensic Science Centre where they are being tested. Festus, who was unrepresented during yesterday’s proceedings, told Stroude that he had not been allowed a phone call since his arrest on December 1. However the police prosecutor told the magistrate that the accused man said he did not wish to call anyone. "I do not want to call my wife since she is seven weeks pregnant," Festus told Stroude. The police prosecutor also informed the magistrate that the accused, who is a Nigerian national, is reportedly living in Venezuela. "We have contacted immigration because he has two passports, one of which was found when he was held. He also has two forms of identification — one saying he is married and the other saying he is not. His Venezuelan identification also shows that he has two forms of fingerprints," said the prosecutor. Stroude then denied Festus bail saying that he was a non-national and as a result, would have to apply to a judge in chambers for bail. Festus will reappear on December 12.
Comments
"Nigerian in court on cocaine charge"