A former cashier under the administration of Senator Jonah Jang, Yusuf Pam, told a High Court in Plateau State on Wednesday that the statement he made indicting his former boss, was taken by EFCC under duress.
Pam, made the allegation while being cross-examined by EFCC Counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN.
Jang and Yusuf Pam, a former cashier in the Plateau State Government House, were arraigned by the EFCC over N6.3 billion fraud allegedly committed between September 2010 and October 2014.
Jang and Pam are charge with 12 counts of conspiracy and money laundering allegedly committed when Jang was governor of Plateau State.
The EFCC alleged that the defendants conspired to defraud the state of N6.3bn, via illegal acts.
The anti-graft agency said the acts were contrary to, and punishable under sections 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition Act) 2011, as amended.
”When I got to the EFCC office, some officers threatened to detain me for two weeks.
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“They also told me that I was under arrest and that anything I say would be used against me. I became scared and wrote what they wanted me to write,” he alleged,
The judge, Justice Daniel Longji, after listening to the defendant ordered for a trial-within-trial to ascertain if the statement was taken under duress.
Longji held that in criminal trial, the law was always in favour of the accused person adding that time should be given to the defence to prepare for the mini-trial.
He adjourned the matter untill April 25 and April 26 for trial-within-trial.
Earlier, Counsel to the defendant, S.G Ode, however stated that his client was not ready to enter the trial as he needed adequate time and facilities to present his case citing Section 36 (6b) of the Evidence Act to prove his point.
But Jacobs, argued that it was the duty of the prosecution to establish if the statement was made voluntarily or not stating the defense counsel prayer was simply to ‘gag’ him. (NAN)
