Justice E.S Chukwu of the
Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja on Tuesday, November 10, 2015
admitted as evidence, a compact disc (CD) tendered by the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to the effect that the statements of Imaobong Akon Esu-Nte, an accountant with
the Nigeria Prison Service and five others being prosecuted by the agency were
voluntarily rendered.
Esu-Nte (Alias Imaobong Akon Esu-Nte); Olukolade
Olabamiji, a Businessman; Mohammed Abdulkadir, a banker and their 3 companies-
Royal Mall Nigeria Limited, Transferase Ventures, I.D Integrated Petroleum are
standing trial on an 11-count charge bordering on conspiracy, forgery, abuse of
office and money laundering.
It would be recalled that, the
accused had through their counsel, Titus O. Ashaolu, SAN, challenged the
admissibility of their statements tendered by the EFCC on the ground that, the
statements were not voluntarily obtained.
The trial-within-trial
which commenced at the last sitting, October 6, 2015 saw the principal witness
Sini Omar denying taking the statements of the accused persons under duress as
he told the court that, all the statements were given voluntarily and conducted
in a professional manner.
At the resumed hearing
today, counsel to EFCC, Larry Peters Aso, led another operative of the
Commission, Buhari Nuru Dalhatu, in evidence.
Dalhatu, told the court
that, he was an operative attached to the Digital Forensic Unit of the Forensic
Science Laboratory of EFCC.
According to him, "the
confessional statement of the first accused (Esu-Nte) was attested and while it
was done, a decision was taken to record the attestation using a galaxy tablet".
He told the court that, after
the attestation was recorded, he was assigned to move it from the galaxy tablet
to the laboratory computer and burnt it into a compact disc in order that, it could
be tendered before the court.
Buhari further stated that,
the computer functions adequately well and that, it is used for day-to-day
storage of all recorded or analyzed data.
However, Ashaolu, SAN,
objected to the admissibility of the disc which he said, failed to meet the
conditions of Section 84(4) of the Evidence Act.
He argued that, "it is
required that a certificate be produced to certify the type of computer used,
how and where it was produced, the serial number, and the brand. All must be contained in the
certification before the CD can be tendered".
He urged the court to
reject it for failure to meet the conditions precedent for its admissibility.
Responding, Aso stated that
section 84(4) of Evidence Act cited by the defence does not apply where the
person who generated the document is called as a witness to lay a foundation
for tendering of the document.
He argued that, the witness
has complied with the provisions of Section 84(2) of the Evidence Act adding
that, the essence of tendering the compact Disc (CD) is to show that the
accused statements were voluntary.
Also testifying, Friday
Ebelo, an operative of the EFCC, stated that, he came across the accused when
he was called by Sini Omar to attest to the confessional statement of the first
accused which was taken on May 8,2014 at 1400Hours.
Ebelo told the court that,
the first accused, Esu-Nte's statement was voluntarily rendered without any form of
harassment, intimidation or duress as the statement was done in his presence and
one of her counsel from Ashaolu's chambers.
The attestation was tendered
and admitted in evidence as PW2a.
Justice Chukwu has
adjourned the case to December 8, 2015 for continuation of trial.
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