Skip to main content

Detained Journalist, Agba Jalingo, Seeks Modification Of Order Given To Mask Witnesses

Lawyers representing Agba Jalingo have filed an application seeking to modify the order of the court, which granted leave to the prosecution to mask its witnesses.

Justice Simon Amobeda of the Federal High Court, Calabar, Cross River State, had on October 23 granted the request of the Nigerian Government allowing it to hide the identities of the seven witnesses listed to testify against Jalingo.

Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika (SAN), counsel to Jalingo, said that the defense was relying on the ruling of the court, which said the terms can be modified from time to time.

In his argument, Olumide-Fusika submitted that, “In making that pronouncement, the proof of evidence which is before your lordship shows that the identities and location of witnesses number 1 to 6 are incapable of being hidden considering that they are materials already on the proof of evidence.”

Continuing, he said the allegation that someone threatened should not have been heard as there was no way a witness not known to the defense could have been threatened. See Also Journalism Masked Witnesses To Testify Against Journalist Agba Jalingo 0 Comments 1 Week Ago

The prosecution had claimed that a witness was threatened on August 28, 2019; six days into the detention of Jalingo but the charges were filed on August 30, a situation Olumide-Fusika argued was not possible.

However, the prosecution counsel, Dennis Tarhemba, objected to the application relying on section 232 subsection 2 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.

He challenged the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the application.

He urged the court to dismiss the application of the defendant as well as award an N100,000 as cost of transportation for the seven witnesses, who were in court as the prosecution was ready to proceed.

However, Olumide-Fusika quickly objected, pointing out that the counsel to the prosecution had said only two witnesses were in court when the matter was called and appearances announced. See Also ACTIVISM Agba Jalingo Listed In World's 10 'Most Urgent' Cases Of Threats To Press Freedom 0 Comments 4 Days Ago

He wondered why the list suddenly increased to seven.

In his ruling, Justice Amobeda adjourned to November 12 and 21, 2019 for ruling on the application and continuation of trial.

ACTIVISM Human Rights Journalism Politics MEDIA News AddThis :  Featured Image :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 

from All Content
via

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nigerian Academy Of Science Inducts First Female President

The Nigerian Academy of Science has inducted a professor of Parasitology/Epidemiology, Ekanem Ikpi Braide, as its 19th President on Thursday. In a statement issued by Oladoyin Odubanjo, the Executive Secretary of the Academy, Braide is the Academy’s first female President in 44 years of existence. It read, “Braide was a member of the national committee that achieved the laudable feat of guinea worm eradication in Nigeria. “She has a rich professional experience as a researcher and an administrator. In July 2010, Professor Braide was honoured by the President of Nigeria with the award of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) for her contribution to disease control in Nigeria. “She was nominated by the Honourable Minister of Health to serve in the Ministerial Expert Advisory Committee on COVID-19 Health Sector Response (MEACoC-HSR). “Professor Braide served as Vice-Chancellor, Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH) Calabar, Nigeria (2004 to 2009) and as P...
Post a Comment
Read more

NLNG Signs Letter Of Intent On Delayed Gas Expansion Project

The Nigerian Natural Liquefied Gas LTD has signed a letter of intent for the engineering, procurement and construction of its long held up Train Seven project. In a statement released by the company on Wednesday, it said that the $10bn project will be executed by a consortium of Italian firm Saipem, Japan’s Chiyoda and South Korea’s Daewoo. The statement reads, “The project will form part of the investment of over $10bn including the upstream scope of the LNG value chain, thereby boosting the much needed Foreign Direct Investment profile of Nigeria.” Managing Director of NLNG, Tony Atta, said in 2018 that the Final Investment Decision would be made in the fourth quarter of that year. This did not however, materialize. According to the release, the project will have a four to five-year execution time after the signing of the FID. The project is expected to add an extra 8 million tons per annum of gas to the 22 mtpa currently exported by the company. Oil News AddThis :...
Post a Comment
Read more

Former Maritime Agency Boss, Buba Galadima, Accuses AMCON Of Witch-hunt After Property Takeover

  A former Director-General of the Nigeria Maritime Agency, Buba Galadima, has accused the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria of witch-hunt after the agency took possession of his business and assets on Tuesday in Abuja. Galadima, an ardent critic of President Muhammadu Buhari, claimed that he did not borrow money or have unpaid debt with Unity Bank, which lodged a complaint against him and occasioned AMCON’s move on Tuesday. The properties taken over include House No. 15, Addis Ababa Crescent, Wuse Zone 4, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and House No. 4, Bangui Street, Wuse 2, also in Abuja.  Reacting to the situation, Galadima said, “This is an attempt to disgrace and break me down. This is injustice and an attempt to humiliate me. "But I am unbreakable and they can never silence me. They sacked me and over 50 people that sleep in the apartment. "We don’t know where to go. We will remain on the streets. We will remain on the streets until God provi...
Post a Comment
Read more