The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court has declined to admit the extrajudicial statements sought to be tendered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in evidence in a money laundering suit filed against Malabu Oil and Gas Limited and seven others.

Justice Inyang Ekwo, in a ruling after a trial-within-trial, held that “the law in section 29 (2) (a) of the Evidence Act rejects a statement obtained by the oppression of the person who made it.”

Mr Ekwo held that the statements sought to be tendered by counsel to the anti-graft agency were inadmissible, having been obtained under the atmosphere of “hostility, intimidating conduct and threats.”

The judge said the logic of the draftsman of the Evidence Act, which he could read in section 29 (5) of the same act, was that the word “oppression” was first made to retain its natural and ordinary meaning before being expanded to include “torture, inhuman or degrading treatment, and the use of threat or violence whether or not amounting to torture.”

He stressed that the test of voluntariness depended on the facts surrounding a given case.

“Again, I have noted the judicial authorities cited and relied upon by both parties in this case. As much as judicial authorities provide precedents on the subject matter of the case generally, it is the facts and circumstances of the case at hand that will determine whether or not a statement which is the subject of trial-within-trial was made voluntarily,” said Mr Ekwo.

The judge added, “In this case, I find the existence of mental stress or pressure on the eighth defendant (Aliyu Abubakar) owing to undue hostility, intimidating conduct and threats of the EFCC officials during the making of the statements on 16th and 17th January 2016, recorded by Bashir Abdullahi (PW-A).”

The judge also held that the statements of December 31, 2019, and January 6, 2020, recorded by EFCC operative Ahmed Audu and the statements of January 21 and 25, 2020, recorded by Ahmed Yusu, another EFCC officer, were made by Mr Abubakar involuntarily.

”I also find that the statements of 6th August 2015 and 30th November 2015 recorded by the eighth defendant were done in the presence of PW-A and five other operatives of the EFCC in one room with the eighth defendant,” he said.

Mr Ekwo noted that any suspect facing such a number of investigators would panic, stressing that “such environment was capable of exerting mental pressure on the 8th defendant and in fact did, and I so hold.”

The judge, therefore, held that the statements sought to be tendered were not obtained voluntarily.

“In fact, the evidence of PW-A, PW-B and PW-C were effectively demolished during cross-examination to the extent that no iota of credibility can be found thereof,” added Mr Ekwo.

Consequently, the judge declared that the statements were inadmissible in evidence and must be rejected.

“They are hereby rejected and to be so marked. This is the order of this court,” he declared.

The judge adjourned the matter until November 6, 7 and 8 for trial continuation.

The EFCC had, in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CR/268/16, sued Malabu Oil and Gas Limited, A Group Construction Company Limited; Rocky Top Resources Limited; Megatech Engineering Limited; Novel Properties and Development Company Limited listed as first to fifth defendants, respectively.

Imperial Union Limited, Carlin International Nigeria Limited and the oil mogul, Aliyu Abubakar, are the sixth to eighth defendants.

Mr Abubakar, a businessman, had alleged that during his investigation by the EFCC, he made the extrajudicial statements under duress. The development made the court order a trial-within-trial in the suit.

The trial judge also on Monday rejected the extrajudicial statements made by Mr Abubakar in another criminal charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/39/17 filed by EFCC against the ex-attorney general of the federation Mohammed Adoke, who are first and second defendants.

(NAN)