Ayodele Olalere
A Prosecution Witness in the alleged defamation suit of former chairman of Ijede Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Fathiu Salisu, Omaka Udodinma, would be cross examined on Monday, December 4 before Justice Olayinka Faaji of a Federal High Court, Lagos.
Salisu had dragged the defendant, an Ikorodu based APC stalwart, Oluwatosin Onamade, before the court for allegedly accusing him as the mastermind of an attack on him (Onamade) in his office at Ijede, in the build up to the 2021 local government primary election in Lagos State in which Onamade contested against Salisu who then was gunning for a second term in office.
The attackers allegedly murdered one of the staff of the defendant, one Ifeanyi, during the incident.
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At the commencement of the trial on October 16, while being examined by the prosecuting counsel, Omotayo Olatunbosun, the witness, a Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP, told the court that a petiton was forwarded to his team for investigation by the then Inspector General of Police, IGP, from the office of former Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola.
He said his team invited the petitioner, Fathiu Salisu, to explain the rationale behind the petition after which the investigating team proceeded to Lagos to arrest the defendant for questioning.
The witness further said the defendant was asked to retract the statement accusing the petitoner of being mastermind of the attack or provide evidence backing his claim, adding that the team received a compact disc showing the defendant accusing the petitioner of his involvement in the incident.
He added that the defendant told the team that on the day of the attack, he saw the petitioner in an unregistered Toyota RAV 4 Jeep in company of the assailants who attacked him in his office.
Other evidence provided by the defendant included two Closed Circuit Television, CCTV CDs containing footage of the attack, as well as a copy of press release by a group, Concerned Residents of Ijede, claiming the petitioner was not competent to contest in the election because of his alleged mis-governance in his first tenure.