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Godwin Tsa
The trial of the alleged Taraba kidnap kingpin, Bala Hamisu (commonly called Wadume) resumed Wednesday where two confessional statements allegedly made by co-defendants in the case were admitted in evidence.
Specifically, the admitted statements said to be made by Aliyu Dadje, a Police Inspector ( the 2nd defendant), and Zubairu Abdullahi (aka Basho and 6th defendant) to the police were marked as Exhibits H and I, by Justice Binta Nyako.
Zubairu Abdullahi (aka Basho), was arrested for being in possession of two AK-47 Rifles he claimed belonged to Wadume.
In the case of the Police Inspector, Dadje, who was the station officer of In LGA divisional Police Headquarters, the prosecution alleged that he tampered with the entry made by the leader of the IGP IRT team, ASP Felix Adolije by tearing out the page to cover up for the soldiers.
This is even as the prosecution alleged that he was fully aware that an offence of terrorism had been committed by one Capt Ahmed Balarabe and his team who attacked and killed three of the IGP IRT team and two civilians that went to arrest Wadume.
Meantime, the two defendants have since challenged the admissibility of their confessional statements, claiming that it was obtained from them under duress.
Meanwhile, ruling on the admissibility of the statements on Wednesday, Justice Nyako, noted that under section 29 of the Evidence Act, the onus was on the prosecution to establish that the statement was obtained voluntarily.
Justice Nyako held that in view of the fact that the prosecution maintained that the statement was voluntarily made, she held that mere denial of making or signing contents of the statements was not enough to warrant their rejection by the court.
Meanwhile, Justice Nyako had while adjourning the case to October 13 and 22 has directed that the Defendants should be granted access to their lawyers and medical facilities at the Suleja Correctional Center.
