By Vivian Okejeme
Abuja
The new Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) of the Federation, Muhammad Etsu Umar, has said that prosecution of corruption, terrorism, and other cases will now assume a different approach.
While speaking with the press yesterday, Umar said with over 20 years in prosecution, he would not be compromised or influenced in discharging his duty in his new position.
He said he was bringing with him his reputation of sticking to his guns against political influences, which brought him success in his position at the Nigerian Customs Services.
On criticism of shoddy prosecution that had bedeviled most of the ongoing high profile cases, Umar said cases must now be subjected to a two-stage test that would be satisfied before commencing prosecution.
“There must be sufficient evidence and the prosecution must be in the public interest”, he said.
He admitted that the success of prosecution “lies in the thoroughness of the investigation and the strength of evidence before the court.
“We shall embark on massive training and retraining of our prosecutors, the right kind of training and mentoring that is necessary to equip us for the challenges of the fight against the 21st century crimes,” he said.
Continuing, he revealed that he had ordered all prosecutors with ongoing cases at the FCT and Federal High Courts, Appeal and Supreme courts to submit a report on the status of the cases in order to restrategise and deliver on the mandate.
He further stated that he was open to partnership across board and calls for a synergy with other relevant law enforcement agencies.
“We shall examine the new national policy on prosecution with a view of adhering strictly with it and ensuring consistency in the prosecutorial decision making process.”
