After13 years of rigorous trial, former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the late military Head of State, General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha and Alhaji Lateef Shofolahan, a former aide to the late business mogul and winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, Chief M. K. O. Abiola, now have reason to smile as the Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos yesterday discharged and acquitted the duo over the murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola in 1996. The Court in a unanimous decision ruled that there was no direct circumstantial evidence that the duo conspired with anyone as statements of prosecution witnesses in that regard were contradictory. The trial of Al-Mustapha and Shofolahan commenced in October, 1999 before a Lagos State Chief Magistrate Court sitting in Ikeja, presided over by Magistrate Gbogodo. They were later re-arraigned before former Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Christopher Segun in 2000 while the judge later withdrew from the case due to allegation of bias raised against him by the counsel of Al-Mustapha, Joseph Dawodu then. Again, the matter was reassigned to Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun now of Supreme Court, after the elevation of Justice Kekere-Ekun to the Court of Apppeal, it was re-assigned to another judge before it got to the court of Justice Mojisola Dada who finally found them guilty of the offence, and accordingly convicted and sentenced them to death by hanging on January 30, 2012. At the Court of Appeal yesterday, Justice Rita Pemu who read the lead judgment held that there was no direct circumstantial evidence that Al-Mustapha and Shofolahan conspired with anyone as claims of prosecution witnesses in that regard were contradictory and that the prosecution in totality failed to establish the charge of conspiracy and murder against the appellants. She further held that based on facts and evidence before the court, it is certainly neither Al-Mustapha nor Shofolahan who pulled the trigger and murdered Alhaja Abiola. Justice Amina Augie who is the presiding Judge also concurred with the lead judgement as read by Justice Rita Pemu, while the third Judge on the panel, Justice Fatima Akinbami also totally agreed with the lead judgement meaning that the ruling was unanimous. “In a criminal trial the burden of proof is to proof beyond reasonable doubt and this is a chain that cannot be broken. “The prosecution listed four witnesses PW 9, 10, 11 and 12 as witnesses which it intended to call in the trial, but never called any of them. “PW 1 (Dr Ore Falomo) testified before the lower court that the bullet extracted from the forehead of the deceased, was white and of a special kind, but the prosecution failed to tender the bullet as exhibit and this is fatal to their case. “The prosecution also called Pw 4 (Investigating Police officer) who investigated the death of the deceased, but this witness was never produced for cross examination by the defence, as he never showed up in court. “This renders the evidence of the police officer inconclusive as it denied the defendants their right to fair hearing, and no reasonable court can safely make a conviction on such inconclusive testimony. “PW 2 (Sgt. Rogers) and PW 3( Mohammedd Abdul) in their confessional statements to the police, said they were enjoined by the first appellant, to murder kudirat, but these statements were later retracted by them in court. “PW 2 and 3 retracting their earlier statement to the police told the court that they were cajoled by the prosecution to indict the appellants, with a promise to give them monetary compensation. “This is a contradiction in the testimonies of the witness, it raises doubt in the case of the prosecution, and it is unimaginable that the lower court did not expunge this evidence. “For an offence like murder, I wonder why the Nigeria police did not do a proper investigation. “Jabila who was initially arrested as a co-defendant, was later called prosecution witness, witnesses who ought to be called were never called, the bullet extracted was never tendered before the court. “Once there is doubt in the case of the prosecution, as in the instant case, it must be resolved in favour of the accused, and this doubt is accordingly resolved in favour of the appellants. “One thing is clear, Kudirat was shot, but the big question is who pulled the trigger? “I find nothing in this case which sufficiently links the appellants with the commission of the offence. “It is preposterous that in a 326 page judgment, the lower court was only concerned with securing a conviction at all cost. “Just as God is, He is no respecter of person, so also is this court. I hereby order that the appellants be discharged and acquitted while the conviction and sentence of the lower court, is hereby discharged. “For someone who has been incarcerated since 1999 on a baseless indictment, it is so unfortunate” Pemu held. The court also held that if the evidence of the prosecution is overwhelming and compelling, the trial judge did not need to use 326 pages of judgment to prove that the duo were guilty of the offence and added that the method the trial judge adopted is alien to criminal justice administration in the country. Recall that the convicts were arraigned in October 1999 on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy and their involvement in the 1996 murder of the deceased, along the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway. Counsel to the appellants Mr Joseph Daudu (SAN) and Mr Olalekan Ojo, had however, appealed to the court of appeal, 24-hours after the sentence of the convicts challenging the lower court’s verdict. The appellants Counsel had both adopted their written addresses before the appellate court on June 10, urging the court to allow the appeal and set aside the judgment of the lower court. They argued that the trial court erred in law to have based its judgment on the testimonies of PW1 and 2, (Barnabas Jabila and Mohammed Abdul) which were contradictory, and leaving out areas of their testimonies which were favorable to their case. In his response, Counsel to the respondent, Mr Lawal Pedro (SAN) had urged the court to dismiss the appeal and uphold the judgment of the lower court, arguing that the appeal lacked merit. He had argued that apart from the evidence of PW1 and 2, there were other evidence from the defendants themselves, which support the counts of conspiracy and murder.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 04:36:55 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015