An FCT High Court, Maitama, on Tuesday rejected police testimony that three armed robbery suspects volunteered their statements to the police.
The defendants: Omenini Bayallah, 22; Paul Sunday, 20, and Dahiru Yusuf, 40, had pleaded not guilty to a three-count charge of armed robbery, conspiracy and receiving stolen property levelled against them.
The judge, Justice Peter Affen, had ordered for trial-within-trial to ascertain the voluntariness of the statements.
Affen, in his ruling on the trial-within-trial, held that the prosecution failed to led evidence to show that the details of Sections 16 (4) and 17 (2) of the Administration of Crime Justice Act (ACJA), 2015 were complied with.
“It, therefore, seems to be obvious that the extra-judicial statements of Aug. 8, 2017 and July 30, 2017, can scarcely be said to have been voluntarily made by Bayallah and Sunday.
“And the proper thing to do is to mark the statements tendered as rejected,” he held.
He adjourned the matter until Oct. 18 for continuation of trial.
Mr Ogede Mohammed, counsel to Bayallah and Sunday, had objected to tendering the alleged statement made by the first and second defendants, by Mr Stanley Nwodo, the prosecuting counsel.
Nwodo had informed the court that on July 14, 2017, at about 2 a.m., Bayallah and Sunday, at Maitama, Abuja, robbed one Ogechukwu Irono.
The prosecutor said the defendants robbed Irono of her Samsung galaxy Note 3, valued at 25,000 U.S. dollars, jewelries valued at N32 million, and other personal items.
Nwodo said that Dahiru Yusuf, on the same date received the stolen jewelries.
He said the offences contravened Section 6 of the Armed Robbery and Firearms Act. (NAN)