The Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC has urged Justice B.O. Quadri of the Federal High Court, Gombe,
to discountenance the opposition of Sambo Muhammad Tumu to the admissibility of
his statement which he claimed was obtained involuntarily.
Tumu, a food supplier to Gombe State
Government House alongside the erstwhile governor of Gombe State, Muhammad
Danjuma Goje and four others are facing a N25 billion conspiracy and money
laundering charge brought against them by EFCC.
At the resumed hearing of the case on
Tuesday 14th and Wednesday 15th May 2013, his counsel Paul Erokoro,
SAN insisted the statement of his client should not be admitted in evidence,
claiming he was not the author and that the document was made under
circumstances of threat and promise with the sole intention to implicate the 1st
accused, Danjuma Goje, by all means.
Arguing further on the vulnerability of an
illiterate person such as Sambo, to buttress his stance on the document’s
inadmissibility, Erokoro cited the Illiterate Protection Act, saying the
evidence given by Suraj did not meet the requirement of the Act.
However, EFCC counsel Wahab Shittu in his
address on point of law, noted that facts as well as circumstances surrounding
the statement indicate that it was voluntarily taken. He argued that to
show that the statement was not voluntary the accused must demonstrate oppression,
which he had not done. “An accused person who sought for an interpreter and was
obliged, who agreed that the interpreter was present throughout the interview,
appended his signature to the statement and was allowed to go home after
volunteering his statement, can we therefore say there was oppression?”.
Shittu therefore urged the court to
discountenance the submissions of defence and admit the document in evidence as
it is credible, compelling, cogent, and watertight.
Earlier, while being cross examined,
prosecution witnesses Solomon Okotie and Suraj Abdullahi who were the
investigator and interpreter respectively denied inducing, threatening or
promising Sambo Tumu anything in order to extract the statement. They asserted
that the statement was made voluntarily by the accused under a normal and
relaxed atmosphere in an open EFCC office.
Justice Babatunde Quadri adjourned the case
to 3 and 4 July, 2013 for ruling and continuation of trial.
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