An Investigative Police Officer, Inspector Joseph Edo, on Friday told a Lagos High Court sitting in Igbosere, that statements were voluntarily obtained during investigations into the murder of Cynthia Osokogu.
Edo said this while testifying at the trial-within-trial of four persons charged with the killing of Osokogu.
The defendants – Okwumo Nwabufo 33; Olisaeloka Ezike, 23; Orji Osita, 33; and Ezike Nonso, 25 – are being tried by the Lagos State Government.
The defendants allegedly chained and strangled 25-year-old Osokogu, a student, who met some of the accused via a social media.
Her killing at Cosmilla Hotel, FESTAC Town, Lagos on July 22, 2012, raised a lot of questions as she was believed to have flown to Lagos from Abuja to meet friends she met on Facebook, a popular social media.
Edo, led in evidence by the Commissioner for Justice Attorney-General of Lagos State, Ade Ipaye, told the court that Nwabufo and Ezike voluntarily made statements to the police and were not tortured.
The counsel to the first and second defendants, Victor Okpara and Michael Ajayi, during cross examination, inquired from the IPO whether any form of torture was applied to get the defendants’ testimony.
Edo, however, stuck to his earlier claim and said that torture was not used during investigation by the Nigeria police.
Also, DSP Greg Imoh and ACP Dan Okoro, two senior police officers who participated in the investigation, corroborated Edo’s claim that the defendants voluntarily made their statements.
Okoro said that it was like a drama session when the first and second defendants made their confessional statements.
He said: “The defendants were attacking each other and claiming that one strangled the deceased while the other tied her hands to the back.”
Okpara then told the court that he also had three witnesses for the trial within trial.
Justice Olabisi Akinlade adjourned the case till November 20 and December 11 for the continuation of the trial-within-trial.
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