The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed an additional proof of evidence against Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Emefiele and his co-defendant, Henry Omoile, are facing trial on a 26-count charge before a Lagos high court.

The former CBN governor and Omoile pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

The commission had presented two witnesses to testify against Emefiele in the trial.

At the resumed hearing on Friday, Olalekan Ojo, counsel to Emefiele, was expected to continue the cross-examination of John Ikechukwu Ayoh, the second prosecution witness.

But Ojo told the court that he just received the additional proof of evidence from the EFCC which was filed on Thursday.

The counsel said he needed to study the additional proof of evidence to be able to cross-examine the prosecution witness.

He also accused Rotimi Oyedepo, EFCC counsel, of attempting to engage in “trial by ambush” at the expense of the defendants.

“My lord, there is a need to adjourn this case. We were just served these huge documents by the EFCC in court,” Ojo said.

“The prosecution keeps dumping documents on us at every sitting. This is trial by ambush.”

On his part, Adeyinka Kotoye, counsel to the second defendant, said he was served the additional proof of evidence five minutes after arriving in court.

Kotoye accused the EFCC of not being diligent in the prosecution of the case and attempting to ambush the defence team.

In response, the EFCC counsel said it is unfair to describe the service of processes by the prosecution as “ambush by trial”.

Oyedepo said the additional proof of evidence served by the commission was some of the documents retrieved from the phone of John Adetona, a former aide to Emefiele, who was listed as a witness.

Oyedepo said the documents were served in preparation of the testimony to be given by Adetona before the court.

He added that Adetona was not meant to appear before the court today or on May 9.

“The witness (Adetona) whose device the documents were printed from has not given evidence before the court,” Oyedepo said.

“In preparation for his testimony which is not coming up today or May 9, the prosecution rather waiting for the defense to formally place a demand for the hard copies, the prosecution team printed the documents out.

“How does that amount to prosecutorial unfairness?”

Oyedepo prayed that the court should order the defence team to complete the cross-examination of the second prosecution witness.

He added that the new documents do not affect the continuation of cross-examination of the witness.

However, Emefiele’s counsel disagreed, saying that he needs to study the new documents and that there might be new information to help the cross-examination.

In his ruling, Rahman Oshodi, the presiding judge, agreed with the defendants’ counsel and adjourned the matter to May 9.

The Lagos State Police Command says it has identified a police officer who shot a man dead at a petrol station in Obalende area of the state on Wednesday.

The Public Relations Officer of the Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed this in a post on his X handle on Tuesday.

He said that the officer whom he did not name is serving at Special Protection Unit (SPU), Base 17, Lion Building, Lagos. The PRO said investigation on the incident is still ongoing.

He wrote, “The person behind the shooting has been identified as a police officer serving at Special Protection Unit (SPU) Base 17, Lion Building, Lagos. Investigation is still ongoing and further findings will be made available.

“Meanwhile, the Lagos State Police Command is working with the family of the deceased to ensure that there is no miscarriage of justice.”

The person behind the shooting has been identified as a police officer serving at Special Protection Unit (SPU) Base 17, Lion Building, Lagos.

Investigation is still ongoing and further findings will be made available. Meanwhile, the Lagos State Police Command is working with… https://t.co/apTMnaIbsm

— SP Benjamin Hundeyin (@BenHundeyin) May 2, 2024

The tragedy reportedly happened while motorists and residents in the area struggled to purchase fuel at petrol station belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

The deceased alongside others who had been on a queue to purchase petrol was said to have resisted an attempt by the police officer to jump queue and buy fuel which resulted in ensuing fracas that led to the officer shooting the victim who eventually died.

A 19-year-old kidnapper, identified as Mohammed Abdullahi, in Gujba local government area of Yobe State, has kidnapped an 11-year son of a neighbour, demanded ₦600,000 in ransom, killed the victim with a substance drug, and later buried him.

The Commissioner of Police in Yobe state, CP Ahmed Garba, paraded the suspect and 17 others at the Police Command headquarters in Damaturu and expressed concern over the reemerging criminal activities in the state.

“Mohammed Abdullahi, a 19-year-old suspect from Buniyadi, abducted the son of their neighbour’s 11-year-old and later demanded a ransom of 600,000 naira. When the parents of the victim could not meet his demand, he later bought drugs and administered them to the victim to sleep and the victim later died. The suspect later buried the corpse in their house while his parents were away and was later apprehended by the police,” he said.

Another suspect, Sani Musa, aged 22 years, who stabbed his victim, Sheba Simon, with a knife and snatched her cell phone, was also trailed, arrested and paraded by the police.

In an interview with Channels Television, the suspect, Sani Musa, admitted to committing the crime, saying his intention was not to kill her but to collect the cell phone.

Other suspects paraded were transformer vandals at the Pompomari community of the state capital, and house burglars among other crimes, ranging from rape and armed robbery where 3 AK47 rifles and live ammunition were recovered.

The CP who expressed worry over the insecurity, urged the Yobe State government, to provide empowerment and skills acquisition for the teaming youths in the state, to keep them busy instead of roaming about, taking unwanted drugs, and causing mayhem to communities.