A Federal High Court, Abuja has upheld the objection of Mr Aliyu Abubakar, a co-defendant in the ongoing money laundering trial of Mr Mohammed Adoke, former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice.
Justice Inyang Ekwo, in a ruling after the trial-within-trial, held that the extra-judicial statements made by Abubakar were obtained under duress and in breach of the law.
Justice Ekwo held that the statements were obtained by intimidation, inducement, harassment and in a hostile environment — and, therefore, “inadmissible.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Abubakar, an oil mongul, had alleged that the extra-judicial statements obtained from him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), in the course of the investigation, were not done voluntarily.
The defendant alleged that an EFCC prosecutor asked him on December 31, 2019 to claim that he gave Adoke $20 million and former President Goodluck Jonathan $50 million “so that I would not be detained into the new year.”
He said he was then forced to sign a prepared statement with the threat that he would be detained on the orders of Ibrahim Magu, the then EFCC chairman, if he did not cooperate with the anti-graft agency, among other allegations.
But the anti-corruption commission denied all the allegations, urging the court to dismiss the objection of Abubakar’s counsel and admit the statements tender in evidence.
Justice Ekwo thereafter ordered for a trail-within-trial with the aim of finding out what truly transpired
Ruling on Monday on the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/39/2017, the judge rejected the statements and ruled that the EFCC cannot rely on them for prosecution.
He ruled that although the statement made on Aug. 6, 2015 was by Abubakar, he was not pre-cautioned and this was in breach of his fundamental human rights.
“The presence of six EFCC officers in the interrogation room was a clear act of intimidation,” he said.
He said the statement was not made voluntarily and cannot be admitted.
The judge also held that it was clear on evidence that the interrogation of Abubakar by six officers on Nov. 30, 2015 was hostile and cannot be admitted as evidence.
“It is consequent upon the above that I find that the prosecution has not established beyond reasonable doubt that the statements of Aug. 6, 2015 and Nov. 30, 2015 recorded by the 2nd defendant, the statements of Jan. 16 and Jan. 17, 2016, recorded by Bashir Abdullahi (PW-A).
”I also find that the statements of Dec. 31, 2019 and Jan. 6, 2020 recorded by Ahmed Audu, and the statements of Jan. 21 and Jan. 25, 2020 recorded by Ahmed Yusuf were obtained voluntarily from the 2nd defendant.
“It is also my finding that the evidence of PW-A and PW-B were effectively demolished in the course of cross examination to the extent that there is no iota of credibility to be found thereof.
“Consequently, I hold that the statements of Aug. 6 and Aug. 30, 2015 recorded by the defendant, the statements of Jan. 16 and Jan. 17, 2016, recorded by Bashir Abdullahi (PW-A), the statements of Dec. 31, 2019, and Jan. 6, 2020 recorded by Ahmed Audu, and the statements of Jan. 21 and Jan. 25, 2020 recorded by Ahmed Yusuf are inadmissible in evidence and must be rejected.
“They are hereby rejected and to be so marked. This is the order of this court,” the judge declared.
Justice Ekwo adjourned the matter until today (July 18) for trial continuation.
NAN reports that the EFCC had, on Aug. 4, 2020, arraigned Adoke and Abubukar as 1st and 2nd defendants respectively
The agency alleged that Adoke made a cash payment of $2,267,400 to Unity Bank in 2013 in contravention of money laundering laws.
Adoke, in his memoir, said Abubakar had in 2011 offered him a property for N500 million out of which Unity Bank provided a mortgage of N300 million, which was then equal to about $2.2 million.
He said when he could not raise the funds to pay his equity contribution of N200 million, Abubakar refunded the mortgage to Unity, repossessed the property and sold it to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2013.
Abubakar then refunded the N300 million mortgage to Unity Bank, Adoke wrote.
However, EFCC’s star witness in the trial, Rislanudeen Mohammed, who was the acting MD of Unity Bank when Abubakar refunded the mortgage in 2013, told the court that there was no money laundering involved in the transaction, insisting that it was “transparent and legitimate.”(NAN)
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