THE Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has opposed the motion asking for the Court to release the telephones of Cyril Ndifon, a professor and Sunny Anyanwu, his lawyer, to a National Computer Forensic Laboratory.
Ndifon, a suspended Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Calabar (UNICAL) and Anyanwu are being tried by ICPC before James Omotosho at the Federal High Court, Abuja, over an alleged sexual misconduct and attempt to perverse the cause of justice.
The anti-corruption agency said their action contradicts sections 8, 18 and 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000 and Section 182 of the Penal Code Cap. 532 Laws of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, 2006.
Read Also:
- Senate rejects motion to release Nnamdi Kanu, demands Ekpa’s extradition
- Kogi governor announces vacancy for doctors, after many leave state
- Arraignment of former NIA boss, Oke stalls as he fails to show up in court
At the resumed hearing on Tuesday, March 12, counsel to the two defendants, Joe Agi SAN, informed the Court of the two motions filed before the Court dated March 8, 2024.
He said the first motion was to seek leave of Court against the ruling on the no-case submission; the second motion hinged on a prayer for the Court to direct its registrar to make available exhibits N and O (telephones of the defendants) to the defendants’ applicants.
While counsel to the ICPC, Osuobeni Ekoi Akponimisingha did not oppose the first motion seeking the leave of the Court to appeal the ruling of the Court dismissing the Defendants’ No Case Submission. However, he contested the second motion on the ground that the purported laboratory the defendants asked the court to release the phones to was not in existence, nor did it have a known address.
“As at now, Sir, the National Computer Forensic Laboratory has not been established. If they have the address, let them provide it. To the best of my knowledge, there’s no such laboratory anywhere,” the lawyer stated.
He thereafter prayed the court for an adjournment to enable the prosecution to respond to the motion seeking the court’s permission to release the defendants’ phones to the purported National Computer Forensic Laboratory.
The judge, Omotosho, thereafter adjourned the trial till March 19 for a hearing of the pending motion on notice.
The ICIR reported on March 7 that the court stated that evidence presented by the prosecution revealed that the suspended dean, Ndifon, demanded the nude photos of the second prosecution witness (Name withheld).
The court said there was a need for Ndifon to explain his intent and purpose for such a request.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance