Police yesterday arrested a witness of one of the five April 5, 2018, bloody Offa, Kwara state robbery suspects, Omolara Ogundiran in court premises.
Omolara, a graduate of Ire Poly, Osun state, is the younger sister of the fifth defendant, Niyi Ogundiran, who is standing trial in the robbery case.
She was taken away around 3:40 pm by operatives of the state police command immediately after the trial that started at 9:00 am.
Ayoade Akinnibosun, Azeez Salahudeen, Niyi Ogundiran, Ibikunle Ogunleye and Adeola Abraham were arrested in connection with the bloody armed robbery incident.
At the resumed hearing on Friday, Omolara Ogundiran, who was called in to witness in the case by the defence counsel, Mr. Mathias Emeribe, tendered a receipt which she said was issued by a spare parts seller in Osogbo, Osun state to his brother.
Earlier while giving evidence, Omolara (PW11) had told the court that she “went to Osogbo to collect a receipt for some motor spare parts of the vehicle bought by Niyi on the day of the robbery.
“When I got to Mallam Ali’s shop (motor spare parts seller), I met him attending to a customer and he said I should sit down and pray for one not to be unfortunate in any situation.
“So he opened the receipt and saw the duplicate before he issued another one to me and I left”.
She said: “I saw Mallam Ali inside the court premises today and he greeted me. But I can’t see him inside the court now”.
However, during cross-examination, Omolara told the court that “I am a religious Christian and attended primary school in Ise Ekiti. I also went to secondary school in Oro but don’t remember the name before I proceeded to Ire Poly for my OHD.
“I can’t remember the day or month, but it was last year 2023 that I went to Osogbo for the receipt. Mallam Ali wrote the receipt in my presence before he gave it to me and wrote the date that my brother came to buy the items (backdated it to April 5, 2018).
“I didn’t go to Osogbo with Niyi Ogundiran, the fifth defendant. I didn’t sign the customer’s section in the receipt but Mallam Ali did and I cannot remember who signed it.
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“When I came back to Ilorin, the receipt was with me and I only gave it to my lawyer when they were talking about it. I was in court when my brother was giving evidence on the case. Niyi and I are siblings but it’s God that will fight for him not me”, she submitted.
It is recalled that Niyi Ogundiran had told the court while testifying that he was never in Offa town on the day of the robbery incident but travelled to Osogbo to purchase spare parts for the second defendant’s vehicle.
After arguments by both the defence and prosecution counsels on the admissibility of a 10-paragraph affidavit brought by the defence counsel on the receipt, the presiding judge, Justice Halimat Salman, however, rejected the admissibility of the receipt as evidence, describing it as a sham.
She said the defendant cannot seek to tender any evidence through the backdoor while they had all the opportunity to do so at various stages of the trial since it started about six years ago but didn’t.
“For you to now remember after about six years to present receipt speaks volume. It seems like one looking back while facing front. The court doesn’t operate by application but by law. The receipt is not enough. It’s a sham. I won’t say more than that. The signature in the affidavit is also different from the one on the receipt. It
lacked merit”, the court ruled.
She later adjourned the case to Tuesday, April 9, 2024 for the adoption of written addresses by the counsels.