Court Adjourns Suicide, Financial Crimes Case Linked to Death of Lilian Omokhuale to Oct 21
By Simeon OSAJIE
A Federal High Court sitting in Benin has adjourned hearing in the high-profile case involving allegations of aiding suicide and financial crimes linked to the death of Mrs. Lilian Omokhuale, daughter of the Chief Executive Officer of Uyi Technical Limited, Mr. Omoruyi Oloton.
The financial crimes and aiding suicide case of Lilian Omokhuale will now continue on 21st of October 2025, following some administrative issues that did not allow the presiding judge, Hon. Justice B. O. Quadri to sit.
At the last sitting, the prosecution counsel, P. O. Odion Esq., substituted the original charge sheet dated 24th July 2024 with a revised version dated 22nd May 2025, effectively altering the direction of the case.
Under the amended charge, Jessica Iguodala Oghomwen is now listed as the principal defendant, while two others, Akpes Omorodion and Esther Eguomo Oisamoje are co-defendants.
This development followed the formal discharge of three individuals previously charged, Chukwudi Akpotowho, Blessing Jatto, and Vincent Uhunmwangho upon application by the prosecution, acting under the directive of the Inspector General of Police.
The refiled charges accuse the other three defendants of conspiring in 2020 to launder money, operate an illegal banking business without a valid licence, and aid the suicide of Mrs. Lilian Omokhuale.
They are also alleged to have forged or illegally procured a Deed of Transfer involving the deceased.
The proceedings have increasingly centred on the actions of Jessica Oghomwen, who repeated failure to appear in court has drawn harsh criticism from the bench.
In November 2024, Justice Quadri issued a bench warrant for her arrest.
During a hearing on February 4, 2025, the prosecution told the court that Oghomwen was deliberately evading trial and treating the court with contempt, a situation that may now warrant the involvement of international Police, INTERPOL.
Her former counsel, O. I. Asenoguan, told the court that she was undergoing medical treatment in Germany and offered apologies for her absence.
Her current lawyer, Dele Igbinedion, has taken a different tack, questioning the prosecution’s failure to verify her medical status and filing a Motion on Notice seeking to quash the charges and vacate the bench warrant.
The court had been expected to rule on that motion at the last sitting, but those arguments were overtaken by the substitution of the charge sheet, which now frames the proceedings anew.
The complainant’s counsel, Douglas Ogbankwa said they are ready to go on with the case.
