A 30 – year old Prosecution Witness (PW) in the ongoing case of alleged terrorism, attempted murder and malicious damage against five prominent indigenes of Ogwashi-Uku at the Federal High Court Asaba, Lawrence Obasi, has accused the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) for omitting evidence incidental to the case in his statement to the police.
Answering questions during cross examination by the defence team, Mr. Obasi, who is the PW2, said most of the facts he told the police to incorporate into his statement were omitted
He specifically blamed the IPO for missing out names of the defendants in his statement of 12th October, 2023, even though he named them.
Mr Obasi, who had earlier told the Court that he could neither read nor write, also admitted that the said statement was written at his behest by the IPO and that there was no interpreter to explain the contents to him at the police station.
Lead Defence Counsel, Chief Efe Akpofure, SAN, had submitted that the mention of the defendants’ names by the witness during his oral evidence was an afterthought and tissues of lies, urging the court to discountenance the evidence of PW2 in its entirety .
Counsel to the 4th defendant , Chioma Ukwuanyi Esq; highlighted the inconsistencies in the witness’s oral evidence and written statements as regards the 4th defendant whose name was not mentioned in the 12th October 2023 statement to the police, even when PW2, in his oral evidence, claimed that he saw the 4th defendant with arms on the day in question.
In addition, PW2’s claim that he was directed by the Otulu vigilante commander to proceed to Ogwashi Uku for an official assignment was also punctured by the Defence Counsel who drew the attention of the Court to the fact that the witness had earlier admitted in his first statement that he was invited by the Ogwashi Uku Monarch for the supposed “official assignment”.
Led in evidence by Prosecution Counsel, Samuel Mallum Esq; PW2, who is an indigene of Afikpo, Ebonyi State; told the Court that he was resident in Otulu Ogwashi and that he was a member of the vigilante group in the area.
He further stated that on 12th October, 2023, the vigilante commander asked him to proceed to the Ogwashi Uku Police Division for an official assignment, adding that on arriving at the Police Division he was deployed to the palace at Ogbenta, along with some police officers.
PW2 also stated that while they were at the palace a group of people in a procession came and attempted to force their way in to the palace but were stopped, resulting in a heated argument during which gun shots were allegedly fired.
According to him, he ran in to a Sienna bus for safety, adding that the windscreen of the said vehicle was allegedly shattered by the gun shots as a result of which he sustained serious injuries, fainted and was rushed to the General Hospital by one Emeka .
The two written statements by the witness dated 12th October, 2023 and 29th January, 2024, were tendered by the prosecution and admitted as exhibits by the Presiding Judge, Justice Olufunmilola Agbaje .
While he claimed, in his oral evidence, that he was rushed to the hospital, the defence team contended that PW2’s statement of 12th October, 2023, proved otherwise as he expressly indicated that he went to the police to make his statement before being taken to the hospital.
During further cross examination, PW2 denied knowledge of the annual Ineh festival by the people of Ogwashi-Uku, which the people and well wishers of the Iyase of a Ogwashi-Uku, Chief Mike Nwaukoni were celebrating on the fateful day.
Defence Lead Counsel, Chief EFe Akpofure, SAN, said the evidence of the witness was misleading and deceptive and urged the Court to outrightly reject it in its entirety.
