Judiciary
THE absence of a prosecution witness on Wednesday stalled the trial of four men charged in the alleged killing of 84 security personnel by the Ombatse militia in Alakyo Village of Nasarawa State.
The police charged Mohammed Asanya, Saidu Yakubu, Angwolo Attah and Enugu Baba, who all reside in Alakyo College in the Lafia Local Government Area of the state, with murder.
They, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 74 police personnel and 10 personnel of the Department of State Services (DSS) were allegedly murdered by the Ombatse militia in Alakyo village on May 7, 2013.
When the matter came up in Lafia, Williams Akika, the prosecution counsel, told a High Court that the third witness traveled out of the country.
Akika, therefore, prayed for an adjournment to enable the prosecution present its witness.
On his part, Emmanuel Kuza, defence counsel, expressed frustration over what he described as ‘undue delays’ by the prosecution.
He argued that the case had suffered unnecessary delays at the instance of the prosecuting counsel.
Kuza said that the defendants had been in detention since 2013 without much progress.
He said that since the trial began in 2018, the prosecution had only called two witnesses.
The defence counsel, prayed the court to reconsider admitting his clients to bail, to enable the m get medical care.
After listening to their arguments, Justice Suleiman Dikko, Chief Judge of the state who presided over the matter, adjourned the matter until Nov. 4 for continuation of hearing.
Dikko ordered the prosecution to ensure that all witnesses are in court by the adjourned date. (NAN)
– Sept. 25, 2019 @ 13:55 GMT |
Tags: Absence of police witness stalls trial of 4 men in Ombatse killings
