Jerry Uwah
A Lagos High Court in Igbosere yesterday acquitted and discharged six men arraigned for the alleged murder of the former gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos state, Mr. Funsho Williams. The men had been in detention for almost eight years.
The trial judge, Justice Ebenezer Adebajo, in a ruling on a no case submission filed by the defence, held that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against them to compel them to open their defence.
The court also held that the evidence adduced by the prosecution to prove the two-count charge of conspiracy and murder against them was “weak and superficial.”
Those set free by the court are Bulama Kolo, Musa Maina, David Cassidy, Tunani Sonani, Mustapha Kayode and Ikponwosa Imariabie. They filed and argued a ‘no case submission’.
They were arraigned before the court by the Lagos state Government on March 1, 2013, on a two-count charge of conspiracy and murder.
The defence counsel, Mr. Okezie Agbara, in a no case submission had Justice Adebajo that the state’s case against his clients must collapse because it was built on unfounded suspicion.
Agbara said an analysis of the pieces of evidence adduced by the state showed that they were at best circumstantial.
In her ruling, Justice Adebajo upheld the defence’s argument, saying that the prosecution failed to make out a prima facie case of conspiracy to commit murder against the defendants.
The court stated that “while the prosecution alleged that the fourth to sixth defendants, policemen deployed to provide security for Williams, made calls with their co-defendants with the deceased’s mobile phone, the state however failed to produce the call logs of the communication in court.”
“The prosecution also failed to show that the mobile phone actually belonged to Williams.”
