OLISA Metuh, former national publicity secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), has narrated his ordeal during his 10-month stay at Kuje Correctional Centre, saying that he fought with demons and devils.
Metuh was sentenced to seven years in a correctional facility after an Abuja Federal High Court found him quilty of money laundering in February 2020.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had charged Metuh and his company, Destra Investment, with seven counts bordering on criminal diversion of money received from former national security adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki.
Okon Abang found him guilty of illegally receiving monies to the tune of 400m naira from Dasuki.
But the judgement was set aside by the Court of Appeal in December.
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A three-man panel led by Stephen Adah in a unanimous judgment delivered that the proceedings of the Federal High Court leading to the conviction of Metuh and his company were tainted with bias, and therefore must not be allowed to stand.
Adah, who delivered the lead judgment, held that the utterances of the trial judge, Okon Abang, in the course of the trial, established that he was biased against the convicts.
He, therefore, ordered that trial be conducted afresh and directed that the case file be sent back to the chief judge of the Federal High Court for reassignment to another judge other than Abang.
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While addressing his supporters at a reception held in his honour on Thursday in Awka, Anambra State capital, Metuh described his 10-month stay behind bars as the lowest point in his life.
He vowed to serve God as a result of his harrowing experience.
“I have been to the lowest, deepest end of the valley. I have wrestled with the demons. I wrestled with the devils,” he said.
“The Almighty God has saved me. For that, I commit the rest of my life to the service of God and the people.”
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