The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday told a Federal High Court in Abuja that six different statements made by an oil magnate, Aliu Abubakar, implicating a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), in alleged $4 million money laundering charges were not made under any threat or duress.
The anti-graft agency insisted that the statements were made in the comfort of the Conference Hall of the EFCC Executive chairman with a CCTV camera and laptop recording throughout the period the six statements were made.
A witness of the EFCC, Ibrahim Ahmed, made the clarifications while testifying in a trial following allegations by the oil magnate, Aliu Abubakar, that he made the statements under threats, inducements, and duress while at the EFCC’s office.
Following the allegation, counsel to Adoke, Paul Erokoro (SAN), objected to the statements’ admission against his client, prompting the Court on December 6, 2021, to order for trial within trial to ascertain the allegations.
However, Ahmed, an operative of EFCC, informed Justice Inyang Ekwo that the six statements made on different dates were recorded under the best conducive atmosphere in the EFCC’s Chairman’s conference hall with an air conditioner, CCTV, and laptops used as part of recording gadgets.
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