Alleged Malabu scam: EFCC Official says defendant voluntarily gave statement

Ibrahim Ahmed, an investigator with the EFCC on Monday said Aliyu Abubakar, the 2nd defendant in the trial of former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Mohammed Adoke, voluntarily made statements to the anti-graft agency.

Ahmed, who was the 1st prosecution witness (PW1) in the trial-within-trial of the money laundering charge preferred against the due by the anti-corruption commission, told Justice Inyang Ekwo on Monday that the allegation was untrue.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Abubakar, a businessman, had alleged that in the course of his investigation by the EFCC, he made statements under duress and was also induced to implicate others.

The development made the court order a trial-within-trial. However, while being led in evidence by counsel to the EFCC, Ofem Uket, the witness who is a CSP seconded to the anti-graft agency, also denied the allegation that Abubakar was induced to make the statements.

“There was no inducement my lord. The 2nd defendant (Abubakar) was not forced to make any statement and he was not detained.“He did it voluntarily and was not threatened,” he told the court. During cross-examination by Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, lawyer to Abubakar, the witness said though he could not tell how long the interview with the 2nd defendant lasted, the timing was in the record made.

Ahmed said Abubakar made two statements out of the six the commission sought to tender in evidence, in his handwriting. He said the defendant also brought lawyers who he said he trusted to write some for him and he (Abubakar) attested to the statements. The witness also acknowledged that two of the statements were written by one Bashir, a police officer seconded to the EFCC on Abubakar’s behalf and that the defendant undertook that he gave him the go-ahead to do so.

Ahmed said Bashir took the recording during the investigation. Justice Ekwo adjourned the matter until tomorrow for the continuation of the trial-within-trial. (NAN)