2 EFCC Witnesses Contradict Selves at Oronsaye Trial

Alex Enumah in Abuja

Two prosecution witnesses of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday gave contradictory testimonies in the on-going trial of former Head of Service (HoS) of the Federation, Stephen Oronsaye, who is facing charges of corruption and money laundering.

Oronsaye and five others are facing an amended 35-count charge of corruption, fraud and money laundering preferred against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Oronsaye is charged along with Osarenkhoe Afe, Fedrick Hamilton Global Services Limited, Cluster Logistic Limited, Kangolo Dynamic Cleaning Limited, and Drew Investment & Construction Company Limited.

They pleaded not guilty to the charges.

At the last adjournment. the prosecution called its first witness Rouqayya Ibrahim who gave her testimony in a trial-within-trial occasioned by an objection by counsel to the 2nd defendant, Oluwole Aladedoye.

Aldedoye had opposed an attempt by the prosecution to tender as exhibit the extra-judicial statement of the 2nd defendant, Osarenkhoe.

Following the conclusion of the examination and cross examination of the PW1, the matter was adjourned to Tuesday for the prosecution to call its remaining witnesses.

But at the resumed trial, two operatives of the EFCC, Mustapha Gadanya and Nurudeen Suleman, gave conflicting evidence about what transpired when they went to arrest the 2nd defendant.

Gadanya who first testified for EFCC at the resumed hearing, told the court that his team never seized the mobile phone, laptop, and ipad from Afe when they went to his house.

He admitted that a search warrant was executed in the house of the 2nd defendant in the Jabi Area of Abuja but denied the claim by the defendants that the three items were carted away from his house.
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