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I didn’t keep records of bribe collected for Emefiele, witness tells court
I didn’t keep records of bribe collected for Emefiele, witness tells court
A prosecution witness, Monday Osazuwa, yesterday, told a Lagos Special Offences Court, sitting in Ikeja, that he did not keep any record of the money he allegedly collected as bribe on behalf of the former Central Bank of Nigeira, CBN, Governor, Godwin Emefiele, who is standing trial, along with one Henry Omoile, before the court for alleged abuse of office and money laundering.
Osazuwa, a dispatch rider, had previously told the court in his evidence-in-chief on April 12, 2024, that he collected over $3 million of bribe money in different tranches on behalf of Emefiele.
Responding to questions from Emefiele’s lawyer, Mr. Olalekan Ojo, after the court granted a request that he be recalled for further re-examination, Osazuwa told the court, yesterday, that he didn’t have the records of the alleged bribe money, stating that he was instructed by Emefiele not to keep any evidence of such transactions.
Asked whether at any time during his statement with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, he produced for the operatives any written instructions by Emefiele to him in the course of the unofficial assignment he ran for the first defendant, he answered that he wrote it in his statement.
Asked if he provided any documents to the EFCC showing where he recorded the monies he collected for Emefiele, he said: “There is no document produced. The instructions given to me by the first defendant was that I should not write anything down.”
The witness also said that he didn’t have a document by either the first or second defendants acknowledging the receipt of money from him.
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Asked if he knew the importance of keeping recordings of financial transactions, the witness said it was for record keeping and future reference, but that he did not keep any records.
“I did not produce any record, I obeyed the instructions based on the money I collected for him,” he said.
The defense counsel then applied that the witness be given the extrajudicial statements he made on February 13,15, 23,2024, before the EFCC, to refresh his memory.
After going through the statement Osazuwa said,” I did not state it in my statement, but he instructed me not to record it. He instructed me that whenever he was not around I should just go straight and give it to the second defendant.”
Asked how long he was detained in EFCC’s custody, he said he was detained for one week and thereafter admitted to bail.
Osazuwa told the court that there was no witness when he handed over the money to the first defendant (Emefiele).
On cross-examination by the second defense counsel Adeyinka Kotoye, SAN, asked the witness to clarify where he stated in his evidence that he and the second defendant counted the money in the envelope he collected for Emefiele. “It was Mr. Raja who counted the money,” he said.
Earlier the fifth prosecution witness a business relationship manager with Zenith Bank Plc, Mrs. Ifeoma Ogbonnaya, in the conclusion of her testimony, said she gave the statements of accounts of Comec, Limelight, and Amswin Resources Limited addressed to Mrs. Margaret Emefiele(Emefiele’s wife) to the regulators.
She also said that of all the documents made available to her as the representative of Zenith Bank, there is nothing in the document connecting Emefiele.
Ogbonnaya further also told the court that she had no dealings with the second defendant (Henry Isioma-Omoile).
At the conclusion of her testimony, Justice Rahman Oshodi adjourned the matter till tomorrow for continuation of trial.
I didn’t keep records of bribe collected for Emefiele, witness tells court
metro
200,000 repentant terrorists surrender, drop arms in North East – CDS
200,000 repentant terrorists surrender, drop arms in North East – CDS
The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, has disclosed that about 200,000 repentant terrorists have so far dropped their arms and surrendered to troops in the North East, noting that the twin strategy of kinetic and non-kinetic operations was responsible for this achievement.
The CDS made this known at the Security and Justice Symposium organised by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in collaboration with the British High Commission, which began at the National Counterterrorism Centre in Abuja on Tuesday.
He disclosed that the theme of the symposium, ”Securing Peace, Ensuring Justice, Protection, Conduct, and Accountability,” speaks volumes about the deluge of security challenges the armed forces and security agencies are facing.
His words, “All the challenges we are facing today have to do with fairness, equity, justice, and accountability.
“There will not be peace without justice, equity, fairness, and accountability. In our operations, we are conducting both kinetic and non-kinetic strategies, which have to a large extent yielded significant successes, and we want to particularly thank the National Security Adviser for his great support in this regard.
“Nigeria is going through so many challenges, and we feel we’re able to address this, and everybody has a sense of belonging. A lot of the security challenges we are having, we are sure, will go down. I want to thank the National Security Advisor for all the support he’s given us, both the kinetic and the non-kinetic.
“We have said it; the kinetic aspect is just less than 30%. The non-kinetic has a lot to play. The non-kinetic, because when you have democracy, people must have the evidence of democracy. As long as it tells people to sleep well and be peaceful, and they are hungry, their children cannot eat, and all this creates more problems.
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“The issue of informants. We have to look at how we tackle this issue of informants. Because these are the people who have created the issue.
200,000 repentant terrorists surrender, drop arms in North East – CDS
metro
Robbers kill two members in shoot-out with Delta police
Robbers kill two members in shoot-out with Delta police
The spokesperson for the police in Delta State, SP Bright Edafe, has confirmed the death of two robbery suspects in the state.
Mr Edafe, who disclosed this to journalists on Tuesday in Warri, said that the deceased were killed from the bullets shot by their gang members.
According to him, the incident occurred on Wednesday at Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area of the state.
Mr Edafe explained that the deceased were leading the police surveillance team attached to the Ekpan Division to their hideout when they were caught during a shoot-out.
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“The suspects were arrested at Effurun roundabout with a bag containing 57 live cartridges and other items. They were leading the surveillance team to their hideout at Warri/Sapele road when their gang members, on sighting the vehicle of the police team, engaged them in a shootout.During the gun duel, the arrested suspects that were leading the police team were fatally wounded by the gun shot of their colleagues. The two injured suspects were taken to the hospital and later died while receiving treatment,” he said.
Mr Edafe said that items recovered from the hoodlums hideout included: one English pump action gun, one locally made cut-to-size gun and eight live cartridges.
Others were: six iPhones, Smart phones and a Rolex wrist watch.
He said that the command had intensified manhunt on the fleeing members of the gang.
Robbers kill two members in shoot-out with Delta police
(NAN)
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