A witness in the
ongoing trial of a Federal High Court judge, Adeniyi Ademola, has explained how
the State Security Service, SSS, conducted its investigations before charges
were drawn against the defendants. Mr. Ademola is facing trial alongside his
wife, Olubowale, who is the immediate past Head of Service of Lagos State, and
Joe Agi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
The witness,
Babatunde Adepoju, an SSS official who led the investigations into the alleged
offenses committed by the defendants, said he was assigned to the case after a
search warrant was executed at the residence of the defendant in October.
Mr. Adepoju explained
that he was assigned to investigate the matter following the recoveries made
during the search at the residence of the defendants, and other allegations,
including those contained in a petition written against Mr. Ademola.
“There was also the
allegation that the judge used his position as an FHC judge and his close ties
with Senator Ahmed Tinubu to influence the appointment of his wife as head of
service, Lagos State.
“My duty was also to
conduct follow-up investigations as regards the monetary recoveries in Justice
Ademola’s apartment,” said Mr. Adepoju, who described himself as a well-read
investigative officer.
He, however, added
that Mr. Ademola denied influencing his wife’s appointment, adding that the
judge explained that his wife was the most senior permanent secretary in Lagos
State at the time of her appointment.
Mr. Adepoju told the
court that the recoveries made from Mr. Ademola’s residence included local and
foreign currencies in hundreds of thousands, as well as two firearms belonging
to Mr. Ademola and another judge, A.R. Mohammed.
According to Mr.
Adepoju, the SSS also employed a ballistician who checked the rifles found at
the residence of Mr. Ademola during the search in October.
After checking the
firearms, Mr. Adepoju said the guns were of the category of prohibited
ammunition which could only be licensed at the discretion of the President of
the country.
[Nigerian_SSS]
He added that
although Mr. Ademola had confirmed that the guns, which had two different
licenses, (one for himself and the other for Mr. Mohammed), belonged to the two
judges, Mr. Mohammed denied ownership of the rifle.
The SSS operative
further said there were also allegations of bribery against the first
defendant, which according to his principal, influenced the order by the
defendant for the release of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra,
Nnamdi Kanu, and former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.
Mr. Adepoju also told
the court that of particular reference in his investigation was a set of
payments made in three tranches to the account of Mrs. Ademola shortly before
certain court orders were made by Mr. Ademola, in a case involving a client of
Mr. Agi.
“In my further
investigation on the connection between Mrs. Ademola and Agi, I tried to
establish if Barr. Agi had cases pending or concluded before Justice Ademola,
and I discovered that they actually had cases in court,” he said.
“Two among the cases
that raised eyebrows were of AMCON vs. FRN and Friday Upkong vs. Chief of Naval
Staff. These two cases involved huge sums of money.
“Both cases emanated
from Calabar, Cross-River State, Justice Ademola’s previous posting. In the
AMCON case, three garnishee orders were granted by Justice Ademola in favor of
Joe Agi’s client, which is Linas International Limited”.
Speaking further, Mr.
Adepoju explained how his department arrived at the allegation that Mr. Agi had
paid N30 million into the account of Mr. Ademola to influence a judgment.
The witness said the
money was paid by two maritime businessmen, Ken Hubert and Bassey Bassey.
According to the witness, the men paid the sum of $150, 000 which was later
converted to naira by Mr. Agi to the tune of N37 million.
“According to Joe
Agi, the conversion rate was N37 million, but he remitted N30 million to Ms.
Olubowale’s account”, the witness stated.
During
cross-examination, however, Mr. Adepoju said the allegations of influencing the
appointment of Mrs. Ademola, made against her husband was a verbal brief given
to him by his superior; adding that as an investigative officer, he has the
discretion to either accept the brief or refuse it, based on evidence at his
disposal.
In response to Mr.
Adepoju’s statement on influencing Mrs. Ademola’s appointment, the defense
lawyer asked whether he had any such evidence and he responded in the negative.
Mr. Adepoju also said
he did not charge Mr. Ademola based on the allegations contained in the cited
petition against him due to the insufficiency of evidence.
“I am trained to go
through any fact-finding quest with an objective mind. These are mere
allegations subject to be confirmed or refuted, based on supporting documents,”
he answered.
Asked whether he
found any available evidence incriminating Mr. Ademola with allegations of
bribery in Messrs. Dasuki and Kanu’s cases, the witness answered in the
negative.
He also said he could
not provide a link between the first defendant and any case in court involving
the maritime businessmen, Messrs. Hubert and Bassey, who he had said paid $150,
000 to Mrs. Ademola’s account.
Mr. Adepoju also
answered in the negative when asked if there was a link between the case
involving Friday Ukpong and the maritime businessmen.
Reading through a
document provided by the defense counsel, Mr. Adepoju confirmed that the money
was paid by the businessmen, shortly before a wedding of Mr. Ademola’s
daughter.
Mr. Adepoju also
confirmed that the ballistician whose report on the rifles were recorded was
invited in January, months after the case was filed.
He, however, added
that the second ballistician was invited because the Service was not satisfied
with the investigation first conducted by the police.
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