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Nigeria: Judge Warns Lagos DPP Over Delay in Trial
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This Day (Lagos)
16 May 2008
Posted to the web 16 May 2008
Davidson Iriekpen
Lagos
Justice Olusola Williams of a Lagos High Court yesterday warned the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) not to unduly delay the trial of Aminu Mohammed and Lateef Sofolahon, warning that the court will not tolerate any delay in bringing the remaining prosecution witnesses to court.
Justice Williams, who apparently was reacting to defence counsel, Mr. James Ocheli (SAN), who drew the attention of the court to the refusal of a court to grant the accused persons bail in 2000, because, according to him, the court had then said that the matter will not be delayed. He added that seven years after, because of the delays caused by the prosecution, the matter had not been concluded and the accused persons are still languishing in custody, frowned at the delay tactics employed by the prosecution in bringing witnesses to court.
The judge warned that she will not tolerate a delay in the matter by the prosecution. "I actually give people a long rope so that they hang theseleves", the judge said. Aminu Mohammed and Lateef Sofolahon are standing trial for the attempted murder of late Afenifere leader, Senator Abraham Adesanya in 1997.
Before the case was adjourned yesterday, former driver to Mohammed Abacha, son of late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, Mohammed Abdul, alias Katako, who was cross-examined and re-examined, said the accused persons did not conspire to commit any crime. "To the best of my knowledge, there was no time the first and second accused persons planned to commit any crime", he said.
He admitted that he did not drive Sergeant Barnabas Jabila, alias Rogers to the residence of Adesanya and did not know whether Sofola was planning with anybody to kill anybody (including Adesanya) in Lagos .
He was confronted with a statement he made to the Police on September 19, 1999, wherein he had stated that he was told by Rogers and co when they came to Lagos, that they came to work, but had in his oral testimony in court, a day earlier, said that he was not told by Rogers what they came to do, while defence insisted that he contradicted himself.
He said at first that he could not remember writing anything of such, but when shown the statement, he said he saw it, but said he did not write the statement, at that point, he was asked if he signed the statement and he responded in the affirmative.
He was also confronted with what he said in his oral evidence a day earlier, that he did not tell anybody the mission of Rogers and co in Lagos , but was read a section of his statement, wherein he wrote that he told everybody he met when they went out that Rogers and co wanted to kill him. When shown the statement, he said he did not tell anybody of Rogers mission to Lagos, but could not explain why he wrote it in his statement, even though he had earlier admitted he wrote statement when the event of the assassination attempt on Adesanya was fresh in his mind.
Katako also told the court that some people from the Lagos State Ministry of Justice, including former Attorney General and Commissioner of the state, Prof Yomi Osibajo (SAN) and the state Solicitor General at the time, Mr Fola Arthur-Worry visited him before the matter was charged to court and even after the matter was charged to court.
According to him, the State Security Service (SSS) facilitated the meetings, which he said took place at the SSS detention centre in Lagos .
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Further hearing has been adjourned till June 16, 2008.
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