Adigwe: Court blasts EFCC over ‘wrong witness

By Our Reporters
IKEJA—An Ikeja High Court, Lagos, yesterday, berated the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for failing to produce its witness to open its case against former managing director of Afribank Plc, Sebastine Adigwe and six others.

Trial judge, Justice Olabisi Akinlade, who noted the failure of the prosecution team led by Mr. Kola Awodehin, SAN, to bring its witness to court, said the action was a repeat of what happened at the last hearing in the matter, when she allowed trial to start only for the prosecution to stall proceedings because of its inability to produce its first witness.

Adigwe, Osa Osunde, Isa Zailani, Chinedu Onyia, Henry Arogundade, all directors of the bank and Peter Ololo (a stock broker) are standing trial over alleged conspiracy, stealing and receipt of stolen property.

Yesterday was for the prosecution to produce its first witness. However, the trial could not go on because the defence team opposed the witness from stepping into the witness box on the ground that the witness called by EFCC, Emmanuel Al-Hassan, an Investigative Police Officer with the agency, was not listed as a witness in the proof of evidence served on the defence. The defence argued that the development was to prevent them from seeking background information on the witness.

The court, in a short ruling, said, “Honestly, I am disappointed in you (the prosecution).” She noted that she had ruled to allow prosecution open its case, only for the lead EFCC’s lawyer, to inform the court that the prosecution’s witnesses were not available.