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The Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has discharged and acquitted the Managing Director of Lionstone Offshore Services Limited and Lionstone Company Limited, Mr Amaechi Ndili, his co-defendant, Mrs Njide Chizoba Ndili, and the two companies over a disputed $4.66 million claim by Hercules Offshore Nigeria Limited.
Justice O. O. Abike-Fadipe, in a judgment delivered on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, upheld the defendants’ no-case submission, ruling that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against them on any of the four counts.
The defendants had been charged with conspiracy to steal, stealing by dishonest conversion, stealing funds held under direction and stealing by persons having an interest in the property allegedly stolen.
The case was instituted by the Office of the Inspector-General of Police over $4,666,234.28 allegedly received from Addax Petroleum Development Nigeria Limited in connection with a contractual arrangement involving Lionstone Offshore Services Limited and Hercules Offshore Nigeria Limited.
The prosecution alleged that the defendants, between July 2012 and September 2013, dishonestly converted the funds.
The defendants, however, denied the allegations, maintaining that the Addax contract was separate from the Joint Bidding Agreement relied upon by Hercules and that the disputed funds did not belong to Hercules.
They were arraigned on an amended four-count charge on January 30, 2023, and pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
During the trial, the prosecution called three witnesses and tendered several exhibits before closing its case on December 9, 2025.
Following the closure of the prosecution’s case, the defendants filed a no-case submission, arguing that the evidence before the court did not disclose any criminal offence or establish a sufficient case requiring them to enter a defence.
Ruling on the submission, Justice Abike-Fadipe held that the prosecution was required to present legally admissible evidence linking each of the defendants to the offences alleged.
The court found that the prosecution had failed to meet that threshold.
A significant part of the judgment concerned the history of the dispute between the parties.
Hercules had relied on a Joint Bidding Agreement which contained an arbitration clause. The dispute was subsequently referred to arbitration, which resulted in an award in favour of Hercules.
The Federal High Court in Lagos, on October 9, 2017, granted leave for the recognition and enforcement of the arbitral award relating to the disputed sum.
Justice Abike-Fadipe consequently questioned the involvement of the police in a dispute that had already been subjected to the agreed arbitration process and subsequent judicial proceedings.
The judge held that the Nigeria Police Force was not an agency for the recovery of disputed civil or commercial debts.
Citing the Police Act 2020 and appellate authorities, including Haruna v. Sani, the court held that the police’s powers to prevent and investigate crime did not extend to enforcing private commercial claims or recovering disputed sums arising from civil transactions.
The court further held that once an arbitral award had been recognised by a court, any enforcement of the award had to be pursued through the appropriate judicial enforcement mechanisms.
Justice Abike-Fadipe found that the criminal proceedings amounted to an abuse of court process, particularly in circumstances where the underlying dispute had already gone through arbitration and judicial proceedings.
The court held that the criminal justice process could not be used as a means of intimidation or coercion in a commercial dispute.
Having found that the prosecution had failed to establish a case requiring the defendants to answer, the court upheld the no-case submission and discharged and acquitted Ndili, Mrs Njide Chizoba Ndili, Lionstone Offshore Services Limited and Lionstone Company Limited on all four counts.
