By Henry Ojelu
Lagos—Mr. Nnamdi Offial, counsel to the second defendant, Henry Omoile, in the ongoing trial of former Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Governor, Godwin Emefiele, on Thursday accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, of attempting to pressure his client into implicating the former apex bank chief.
Offial made the allegation while testifying in a trial-within-trial ordered by Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Lagos State High Court to determine the voluntariness of Omoile’s statement to the EFCC.
According to him, EFCC investigators made several promises to his client, including bail and the possibility of not being charged, if he cooperated by providing incriminating information against Emefiele.
Emefiele and Omoile are standing trial on charges bordering on accepting gratification, receiving gifts through agents, corruption and fraudulent receipt of property. The anti-graft agency also accused them of conferring corrupt advantage on associates, contrary to provisions of the Corrupt Practices Act, 2000. Both defendants pleaded not guilty.
At the resumed hearing, Offial told the court that Omoile informed him that the head of the EFCC interrogation team assured him of leniency if he implicated the first defendant.
He further testified that the interrogation was conducted in a question-and-answer format, adding that his client was required to answer questions “satisfactorily” before being allowed to write them down.
“On several occasions, questions were put to the second defendant and he answered, but he was not allowed to write them down because the answers did not conform to what the interrogators wanted him to say. I objected to this many times,” Offial said.
He told the court that the session of February 26, 2024, ended with investigators informing him that Omoile would be detained because they were not done with him.
Offial further recounted that on February 27, 2024, he questioned why his client was being interrogated in his absence, an action that allegedly led to a confrontation with one of the officers, identified as Davide, who reportedly ordered him out of the premises.
“I reported the incident to the head of the team, who advised me not to worry and to sit in the waiting area. I was not allowed to render services to my client until about 8pm, when he was taken back to the detention centre,” he said.
According to Offial, he later learnt that his client was being detained for refusing to cooperate, prompting him to apply for bail from the EFCC zonal head.
He added that Omoile was detained for 21 days before he filed a fundamental rights enforcement suit at the Federal High Court, Lagos, where Justice Muslim Hassan granted bail but ordered that the defendant be remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre pending the perfection of bail conditions.
However, under cross-examination by the prosecution counsel, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, Offial admitted that Omoile was cautioned in his presence and that he signed the caution.
He also admitted that he participated in the statement-taking process and was aware that whatever his client wrote could be used against him in court.
The defence witness further admitted that he did not file any petition against the EFCC over the alleged conduct of the investigators and that the Federal High Court did not find the commission guilty of any misconduct in the fundamental rights suit.
He also conceded that his client was not harassed in his presence during interrogation.
Justice Oshodi adjourned the matter to January 16 for continuation of the trial-within-trial.
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