An Ilorin High Court in Kwara State trying the five
suspects in April 5, 2018, armed robbery attacks on commercial banks in Offa, the
headquarters of Offa local government council area of the state, yesterday
admitted in evidence the medical examination report on the wounds allegedly
inflicted on the suspects during the course of their interrogation by the
police.
The medical examination was conducted by Dr. Obiora
Adunichukwu.
The suspects are Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibikunle
Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salahudeen Azeez and Niyi Ogundiran.
At the resumed hearing of the trial-within trial on Monday, a medical doctor, Olaleye Paul Olasunkanmi, presented the medical
examination report before the court.
Olasunkanmi, who was in charge of medical welfare
of inmates at Kwara State Prisons Command, said the instrument used in the
hospital cannot tell the date that the injuries occurred during the cross
examination.
He said the fracture seen on the X-ray film showed
that the fracture was there in the past and was caused by metallic object.
Olasunkanmi said: "I am satisfied with the
medical examination presented to court despite not being the author. The author
followed due process which has provided answer to the needs of the court.
"I have informed the court that the date
cannot be told by our instrument, and that the injuries are caused by trauma."
Led in evidence by the prosecutor, Mr. Yusuf Beki, Olasunkanmi told the court that
the report doesn't show that the wounds on the legs of the suspects were as a
result of gunshots.
He testified that there is no place where gunshot
was mentioned in the report.
In his response, the defence counsel, Mr. Mathias Emeribe, prayed the court to allow
further examination of the cause of the wounds on the legs of the suspects by a
ballistician.
He said: "Since the court is after dispensing
justice on the matter, the assistance of the ballistician in the matter was
necessary."
Responding, the prosecutor, Yusuf Beki said the
submission of the defence counsel is not valid in the case, and urged the court
to discountenance it.
He said a ballistician cannot determine the cause
of wounds, saying ballisticians don't work in the hospital.
Beki added that ballistician only determine the
various forms of guns.
The trial judge, Justice Haleeman Salman, in his
short ruling, dismissed the submission of the defence counsel, saying the Chief
Medical Director of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) has no
authority to order a ballistic examination of the wounds on the suspects legs.
"This is outside the power of the CMD of UITH,
and I agree with this. This application is tantamount to attempts to delay the
dispensation of this case. The application is hereby dismissed," the Judge
ruled.
During the continuation of proper hearing of the
case after a short adjournment, the defence counsel further submitted that the
combined effects of the prolong detention of the accused spanning six months
without arraignment "as facts can show, is enough torture itself which
goes against constitutional provisions.
"The implications of this weakens the accused
emotionally; the prosecution cannot precisely tell when the accused were
arrested or taken to Abuja. This leaves us with no other option than to
conclude that the prosecution was lying.
"There is no medical report to show that
Michael Adikwu died of natural causes. This shows that the prosecution is
lying. There is a consistent story line by the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and fifth accused
that from the day of their arrest, they have been under torture.
"In the light of this fact, is it difficult to
conclude that whatever statement wherever it was obtained, provided it occurred
during the currency under the custody of the police, was never voluntary. It
was a statement that was given to stay alive."
The defence counsel further argued that the
contents of the medical report earlier tendered and admitted in evidence by the
court “give credence to the story line that their (accused persons) confessional
statement was obtained under duress and that the crux of the matter that makes
the admissibility of the confessional statements impossible."
Responding, the prosecutor, Beki said the medical
examination report showed that "the evidence of the prosecution witness in
the trial-within-trial is credible, having not been discredited in any way. I
urge the court to admit the evidence of prosecution witness.
"Metallic is not same as bullet pellet. The doctor
said if it were to be gunshot despite being healed, it would have shown. We
urge Your Lordship to admit these statements."
Justice Saleeman, however, adjourned ruling on the
admissibility of the accused confessional statement to a later date, adjourning
continuation of hearing to May 2, 2019.
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