Stephanie Otobo’s lawyer, Keyamo, withdraws as her counsel

More drama has continued to unfold in the Stephanie Otobo saga
as Mr Festus Keyamo, SAN, lawyer to Stephanie Otobo, the
Canada-based night club stripper and musician, has sought to
withdraw as counsel in the Otobo vs Apostle Suleman’s s3x case.

Recall that Otobo had alleged that Apostle Johnson Suleman,
president and founder of Auchi, Edo state-based Omega Fire
Ministries, was her secret lover who promised her marriage and
later breached the promise.

The saga which broke in March last year saw the man of God
firing back and suing Otobo and an online medium, one billion Naira
each, at the Ikeja high court in Lagos, Nigeria.

But, Otobo who then had the legal services of her counsel and
lawyer, Festus Keyamo, had continued to insist that indeed, an
illicit affair took place between her and the fiery preacher. She
had also released several videos in the process to that
respect.

But, after almost a year of accusations and counter accusations,
a shocked Nigeria woke up on Saturday, January 27th, to view a
widely circulated online video where Otobo had gone to Apostle
Suleman’s church in Auchi during the monthly Fire Night programme
(an all night vigil programme) on Friday night of January 26th to
confess before the mammoth crowd that she was used by “some
powerful politicians and men of God” to destroy the character and
reputation of Apostle Suleman.

Otobo had, in the video, knelt down before the wife of Apostle
Suleman, weeping profusely and pleading for forgiveness.

But since her confession and plea for forgiveness, Otobo claims
her sponsors, and her lawyer, Keyamo, made frantic efforts,
including email and text messages now in the custody of the fiery
preachers’ team to persuade her to reverse her confession.

She said part of such desperate efforts by her sponsors was the
video of July 2017 released by an online medium(not Tribune) where
she claimed she was under pressure by Apostle Suleman to
confess.

Stephanie Otobo

But countering the old video immediately after its release,
Otobo, in her hideout in Lagos, released a new video to debunk the
former as carried by the online medium.

Otobo added that the said video which was shot more than six
months before her public confession at Apostle Suleman”s church was
one of the tactics her sponsors used to goad her on what she
described as the path of lies and falsehood.

She reiterated that her confession at Apostle Suleman”s church
was true and voluntarily done to set her troubled mind free.

To strengthen her resolve to free her mind from those she said
were her manipulators, she has deposed to an Affidavit of
Disclaimer, stating, interalia, that the statement of defence filed
at Ikeja high court, purportedly on her behalf by her lawyer was
untrue.

According to Otobo, the statement and photographs exhibited in
the court processes did not emanate from her.

She claimed, “I was invited to my lawyer’s chambers to sign a
bundle of documents but when I asked what the bundle of documents
were meant for, I was deceived and told they were to be sent to the
Nigeria Police to release my cell phone seized from me in March
2017 when I was arrested by the Police for blackmail and extortion,
following the complaint of Apostle Suleman.”

She said “with my affidavit of disclaimer, my lawyer quickly ran
to Ikeja high court where the civil suit filed by Apostle Suleman
against me came up for hearing, seeking to withdraw as my
counsel.

“In the said letter, my lawyer’s chambers surprisingly admitted
that they never knew any known address of their client (Stephanie
Otobo) despite haven defended me so profusely.”

Reacting to the Otobo vs Apostle Suleman’s case, a legal
practitioner, Moses Undogwe said, “The whole thing appears more
like a well orchestrated blackmail, calculated to inflict injury on
the accused. The most disgusting aspect of it all is the online
video clips. It is a case of blackmail.”

A legal luminary who submitted that, in keeping with the ethics
of the legal profession, a counsel is not supposed to conduct media
trial.

Another legal luminary however submitted that Keyamo should have
used an eagle-eyed legal instinct to detect the falsehood in the
whole case before taking up the case, adding that, in keeping with
the ethics of the legal profession, a counsel is not supposed to
conduct media trial.

More drama has continued to unfold in the Stephanie Otobo saga
as Mr Festus Keyamo, SAN, lawyer to Stephanie Otobo, the
Canada-based night club stripper and musician, has sought to
withdraw as counsel in the Otobo vs Apostle Suleman’s s3x
case.

Recall that Otobo had alleged that Apostle Johnson Suleman,
president and founder of Auchi, Edo state-based Omega Fire
Ministries, was her secret lover who promised her marriage and
later breached the promise.

The saga which broke in March last year saw the man of God
firing back and suing Otobo and an online medium, one billion Naira
each, at the Ikeja high court in Lagos, Nigeria.

But, Otobo who then had the legal services of her counsel and
lawyer, Festus Keyamo, had continued to insist that indeed, an
illicit affair took place between her and the fiery preacher. She
had also released several videos in the process to that
respect.

But, after almost a year of accusations and counter accusations,
a shocked Nigeria woke up on Saturday, January 27th, to view a
widely circulated online video where Otobo had gone to Apostle
Suleman’s church in Auchi during the monthly Fire Night programme
(an all night vigil programme) on Friday night of January 26th to
confess before the mammoth crowd that she was used by “some
powerful politicians and men of God” to destroy the character and
reputation of Apostle Suleman.

Otobo had, in the video, knelt down before the wife of Apostle
Suleman, weeping profusely and pleading for forgiveness.

But since her confession and plea for forgiveness, Otobo claims
her sponsors, and her lawyer, Keyamo, made frantic efforts,
including email and text messages now in the custody of the fiery
preachers’ team to persuade her to reverse her confession.

She said part of such desperate efforts by her sponsors was the
video of July 2017 released by an online medium(not Tribune) where
she claimed she was under pressure by Apostle Suleman to
confess.

Stephanie Otobo

But countering the old video immediately after its release,
Otobo, in her hideout in Lagos, released a new video to debunk the
former as carried by the online medium.

Otobo added that the said video which was shot more than six
months before her public confession at Apostle Suleman”s church was
one of the tactics her sponsors used to goad her on what she
described as the path of lies and falsehood.

She reiterated that her confession at Apostle Suleman”s church
was true and voluntarily done to set her troubled mind free.

To strengthen her resolve to free her mind from those she said
were her manipulators, she has deposed to an Affidavit of
Disclaimer, stating, interalia, that the statement of defence filed
at Ikeja high court, purportedly on her behalf by her lawyer was
untrue.

According to Otobo, the statement and photographs exhibited in
the court processes did not emanate from her.

She claimed, “I was invited to my lawyer’s chambers to sign a
bundle of documents but when I asked what the bundle of documents
were meant for, I was deceived and told they were to be sent to the
Nigeria Police to release my cell phone seized from me in March
2017 when I was arrested by the Police for blackmail and extortion,
following the complaint of Apostle Suleman.”

She said “with my affidavit of disclaimer, my lawyer quickly ran
to Ikeja high court where the civil suit filed by Apostle Suleman
against me came up for hearing, seeking to withdraw as my
counsel.

“In the said letter, my lawyer’s chambers surprisingly admitted
that they never knew any known address of their client (Stephanie
Otobo) despite haven defended me so profusely.”

Reacting to the Otobo vs Apostle Suleman’s case, a legal
practitioner, Moses Undogwe said, “The whole thing appears more
like a well orchestrated blackmail, calculated to inflict injury on
the accused. The most disgusting aspect of it all is the online
video clips. It is a case of blackmail.”

A legal luminary who submitted that, in keeping with the ethics
of the legal profession, a counsel is not supposed to conduct media
trial.

Another legal luminary however submitted that Keyamo should have
used an eagle-eyed legal instinct to detect the falsehood in the
whole case before taking up the case, adding that, in keeping with
the ethics of the legal profession, a counsel is not supposed to
conduct media trial.