Court frees two men after 5 years in prison custody

The gavel of justice

An Enugu High Court on Thursday freed two men, Emmanuel Eze and Chinedu Nnaji, for want of evidence by the prosecution after five years in prison custody, charged with robbery.

The accused persons were arrested on September 11, 2011, for allegedly robbing a 73-year-old man, Mr. Ephraim Ani and two other victims of their belongings with weapons at Amagu Obeagu in Enugu.

Ani had claimed that the accused persons robbed him of his money, phones from his children and took away one of his cutlasses.

According to him, it was when they left his premises that he climbed a mango tree in his compound around 1.30 a.m. and saw the two accused persons and four others that attacked him.

He further said that the accused were later apprehended by soldiers of 103 Battalion, Gariki, in Enugu, who thereafter, handed them over to the Awkunanaw Police Station in Enugu South Local Government Area.

Items recovered from the accused persons, according to police, were wrappers, torchlight, three wrist watches, four Nokia phones and a Samsung phone.

The presiding Judge, Justice Eno Oluedo, said that the prosecution counsel failed to tender items recovered from the accused persons as evidence before the court.

Oluedo said that the prosecution must prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.

“The prosecution failed to prove if the accused persons were robbers, participated in the said robbery or were arrested with gun and other dangerous weapons.

“Evidence needs to be proven and reliable; I doubted the evidence of the complainant who said he climbed mango tree by 1.30 a.m. when the incident occurred, to know the people that robbed him.

“The second complainant never said that the items recovered from the accused persons were hers and the military who arrested the accused never testified in court.”

Oluedo said that the evidence from the prosecution witness, Mr. Emmanuel Ugwu, showed that there were loopholes in the investigation.

“Upon examination, truth, corroboration, possible confession and consistence are the greatest ingredients.

“There is nothing outside the confessional statement from the accused to show that they were true and no fact to show that the accused robbed the complainants.

The judge ruled that the investigation was conducted poorly and the evidence by the prosecution was a mere speculation which the court will not rely upon.

She, therefore, discharged the two accused persons from all criminal charges.

Comments

Houthis Claim Attack on Central Israel in Response to Gaza ‘Massacres’

The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas has taken a concerning regional turn as the Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for an attack on central Israel. The group announced this as part of their escalating response to what they describe as "massacres" in Gaza amid the Israeli military’s operations in the strip. Details of the Attack The Houthis, a Shiite militant group with ties to Iran, declared that they launched missile and drone strikes targeting Israel. While the exact impact of these attacks remains unclear, reports suggest that Israel’s defense systems intercepted several threats over its airspace. This marks a significant escalation as the Houthis widen their involvement in the conflict beyond their typical operations within Yemen and neighboring Saudi Arabia. The Houthis’ Justification In their statement, the Houthis framed the attack as retaliation for Israel’s military actions in Gaza, which they characterized as indiscriminate bombings resultin...

Fire: UniJos Senate convenes emergency meeting on Monday

Fire at the University of Jos Library University of Jos is to convene an emergency senate meeting on Monday to review the level of damage done to the institution by the Saturday night inferno. The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Sebastian Maimako, disclosed this on Sunday after inspecting areas affected by the incident. The fire, which lasted for more than six hours, destroyed the Library Complex that equally houses the faculties of management and social sciences. The fire also destroyed examination scripts, books and very crucial materials. Consequently, the vice-chancellor said “the Senate will meet tomorrow (Monday) to take a decision about the unmarked examination scripts that were burnt.” On the cause of the inferno, Maimako said investigation had commenced, adding that “nothing has been confirmed yet. We are still investigating.” The vice chancellor said the school was already working with federal authorities toward establishing a main fire station since the mini fire station in t...

NDLEA arrests 252 suspects, seizes 3,073 kg Indian hemp

NDLEA operatives The NDLEA in Niger on Monday said that it had arrested 252 suspects and seized 3,073.9 kilogramme of Indian hemp(cannabis sativa) in the state. The NDLEA Commander in the state, Mr Joseph Iweajunwa, who disclosed this in Minna, said that the operations were carried out between January and September. “Our operations in Niger State from January to September 2016 led to the arrest of 252 suspects and seizure of 3,073.997 kilogramme of cannabis sativa,’’ he said. Iweajunwa said that within the period, the agency also seized 1, 530 litres of liquid drugs, especially cough syrup with codeine. He said the NDLEA also counselled and rehabilitated 90 drug addicts in the state within the period under review. The agency, he added, secured convictions of only nine of the suspects because the judge at the Federal High Court, Minna, went on leave. “ Now that the judge has resumed more suspects will be tried,’’ he said. He advised motorists, especially commercial vehicle dri...

Global Naija Info

Search This Blog