Boko Haram: FG not serious about prosecuting Ndume – Judge

The judge handling the case of involvement in terrorism filed against Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, Justice Gabriel Kolawole, has, once again, expressed doubt about the seriousness of the Federal Government to prosecute the case.
Justice Kolawole, at the resumed hearing of the case on Monday, was miffed by the failure of the prosecution to call in any of the listed witnesses to testify against Ndume.
Rather, the prosecution called to the witness stand one Aliyu Usman, who was not listed as a witness.
Counsel to Ndume, Chief Rickey Tarfa, objected to this move.
Based on this, Justice Kolawole said it had become obvious that the government was not serious about the prosecution of the case.
He, however, said he does not want to give a technical victory to Ndume.
Justice Kolawole, said: “I don’t want to give a technical judgement to the accused.
“When I look at the history of this case from inception, it appears the court is dragging the prosecutor to do its case.
“The application for adjournment is granted.
“Prosecution has 14 days to file.
“Adjourned to 11 and 12 of December for continuation of hearing.”
Justice Kolawole had earlier threatened to dismiss the suit for lack of diligent prosecution.
He said that if the Federal Government was not interested in the prosecution of the matter, it was better to dismiss the case, adding: “I will discharge the suspect and that will be the end of the matter.
“If the state is not ready to prosecute the accused person, withdraw the charges and go to another place.
“I have always expressed my displeasure with regards to applications for adjournment of criminal cases.
“A trend one has noticed from the bench is that the state is always so anxious, perhaps too nervous, to arraign accused persons in high profile criminal cases such as this with a lot of media blitz, but when it gets to the nitty gritty of the real trial, the excitement and eagerness wanes. This court is so flooded with many cases that it has no time, resources or energy, to spare for cases that are not to be prosecuted immediately.”