A Jos High Court in Plateau State on Wednesday ordered
a trial-within-trial to ascertain whether the statement which the Independent
Corrupt Practices and other Related offences Commission (ICPC) obtained from a
former cashier of the state Government House, Mr. Yusuf Pam, facing over N6 billion
charges was voluntarily given or done under duress.
Justice Daniel Longji gave the order in his ruling
following the disclosure that ICPC operatives pressured Pam to make written
statement during investigation.
Pam is standing trial at the High Court alongside
the former Governor of the state and Senator representing Plateau North in the
National Assembly, Jonah Jang, in a
12-count charge brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) which bordered on alleged corruption and misappropriation of
the state fund.
The EFCC had alleged that Jang, who served as the governor
of the state between 2007 and 2015, misappropriated N6 billion two months to
the end of his administration in 2015.
The duo had since pleaded not guilty to the charges
When the case came up for hearing yesterday, counsel
to the prosecutor, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN), had called the eighth witness, Mr.
Taiwo Olorunwoni, an investigator with the ICPC, who testified before the court
that N2 billion belonging to the Plateau State Small and Medium Scale
Enterprise (SMSE) Agency and another N3 billion of the State Universal Basic
Education Board (SUBEB) were withdrawn by the cashier and taken to the former governor.
Jacobs had sought to tender the written statement
of Pam as evidence in court, but his move was objected by the defence counsel, Mike
Ozekheme (SAN), who argued that the statement was not voluntarily obtained as
confirmed by Pam who told the court that he was pressured by the ICPC
operatives to make the written statement.
After arguments and counter arguments by the
prosecution and the defence counsels, the duo agreed for the court to proceed
on trial-within-trial on the matter to ascertain if the statements was
voluntarily obtained by the commission or not.
Justice Daniel Longji, therefore, adjourned the case
for a trial-within-trial to April 25 and 26, 2019.
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