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A 32 year old man, Mohammed Ibrahim and one Baba-Iyali(now at large) accused of conspiracy to commit kidnapping and criminal intimidation has been discharged and acquitted.
Hon. Justice Kyanson Lawanson, of the Adamawa State High Court of Justice discharged the defendant for lack of evidence to link him with the alleged offences.
He declared that there are gaps in the manner the case was investigated by the police and the totality of the evidence presented before the Court by the Prosecution.
According to him, the Court found out that the extra-judicial confessional statement of the Defendant was not recorded in the presence of a Lawyer as provided by law.
The Investigative Police Officer, Inspector Sarma Shuaibu, told the Court during cross-examination that the lawyer endorsed the statement few days after he had recorded the statement, and that it was not in her presence.
According to Justice Kyanson, the Prosecution woefully failed to tender in evidence the report of tracking activities conducted by PW3, and the voice record of telephone conversation allegedly made between the Complainant and the Defendant.
The Witness further admitted during cross-examination that he did not visit Glo Network Office to verify whether the telephone number was registered with the network, and that he knows if he had wanted to recover the voice record of conversation in question, he would have obtained it.
Inspector Sarma informed the Court that he not did personally arrest the Defendant and did not know the circumstances of which the defendant was apprehended.
NEWS PLATFORM gathered that the Dafendant was arrested by the Vigilante at Chigari in Fufore LGA and handed over to the police, and that it was not the police who arrested him.
Justice Kyanson stated that the victim who also testified in court had said that he did not have the record of the conversation he had with the Defendant, and that he was not told the circumstances under which he was arrested.
It was as a result of the failure of the Prosecutiion to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt that the Defendant was accordingly discharged and acquitted.
After delivering his judgement, Justice Kyanson Lawanson, admonished Mohammed Ibrahim that the court discharged him because there was no substantial evidence to convict him.
He advised him to go and engage himself in a fruitful venture that will help him, his family and the society.
Mohammed Ibrahim and one Baba-Iyali(now at large) who allegedly conspired to commit kidnapping and crminal intimidation used phone number 0815030000 and demanded the sum of N10million from Muhammed Yusuf, a business man in based in Yola town.
The duo had in the month of November, 2019 at Gawi village in Fufore LGA, Adamawa state allegedly called their victim on phone where they demanded the money or else they will kill him.
The defendant was said to have told the business man on phone that "I am a thief and I was among the gang who kidnapped Alhaji Basharu", a Yola based business man.
He was said to have asked their victim to listen carefully where he fired a gun shot to his hearing and threatened to kidnap and kill him failure to pay the money.
It was as result of the threat that the business man lodged a complaint at the office of the Commisdioner of Police and the matter referred to CID for investigation.
The Defendant pleaded not guilty as a result of which the Prosecution called 3 witnesses who testified in Court as well as tendered extra-judicial confessional statement of the Defendant.
In his reaction after the judgement, Counsel to the Defendant, Mohammed Abubakar, Assistant Chief Legal Aid Officer of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, appreciated the court for what he described as a sound judgement.
Mohammed Abubakar said that he was happy not only because the Defendant was discharged, but the time taken in trying the Defendant ie from July 2021 to May 2022.
On his part, Counsel to the Prosecution, S. B. Digil(Senior State Counsel 2) thanked the court for the judgement.
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