A Federal High Court, Abuja, on Monday, admitted in evidence two mobile phones seized by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) from Prof. Cyril Ndifon.
Justice James Omotosho admitted the mobile devices; an Oppo Phone and a Tecno Pova Phone with their chargers after they were tendered by the ICPC’s lawyer, Osuobeni Akponimisingha, and the application was not opposed by the defence counsel, Joe Agi, SAN.
It is reported that Justice Omotosho had, on Friday, granted bail to Ndifon, the suspended Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Calabar (UNICAL), in the sum of N250 million with two sureties in the like sum. The judge also admitted Sunny Anyanwu, a lawyer charged alongside Mr Ndifon, to a N50 million bail with two sureties.
NAN reports that Ndifon was, on Jan. 25, re-arraigned alongside Anyanwu as 1st and 2nd defendants on an amended four-count charge bordering on alleged sexual harassment and attempt to perverse the cause of justice.
Anyanwu, who is one of the lawyers in the defence, was joined in the amended charge filed on Jan. 22 by the ICPC on the allegation that he called one of the prosecution witnesses on her mobile telephone during the pendency of the charge against Ndifon to threaten her. At the resumed trial, Akponimisingha told the court that the matter was slated for continuation of hearing and two witnesses were in court.
The 3rd prosecution witness (PW3), Mr Tani Karngong, an Exhibit Keeper with ICPC, said his duty was to receive and secure exhibits seized from suspects by the anti-corruption commission’s investigators. He said besides keeping exhibits, he documents and assigns exhibits to a team for forensic analysis.
“I am the only one who has access to the exhibit room and I have hand gloves that I wear so that there will be no contamination,” he said. The PW3 said the two phones were received with pouches, including two documents in respect of the phones, from their investigators on Oct. 9, 2023
He said he also had a form with him that whoever collects an exhibit from him must sign. Akponimisingha sought to tender the Oppo and Tecno Phones in evidence and after the defence counsel, Agi, did not oppose the application, Justice Omotosho admitted them in evidence as Exhibits N and O respectively. After the phones were tendered, Justice Omotosho signed the form brought by the witness.
Karngong was also cross-examined by the defence lawyer before he was discharged from the witness box Also, the 4th prosecution witness, B.E. Fungo, a Forensic and Intelligence Analyst with ICPC gave his testimony. Fungo, a certified digital forensic analyst, said,he joined the commission in 2021. According To him, his job is to extract, analyse and report his findings.
He said the mobile devices of the suspended dean were submitted by investigators to the Forensic Division of the commission. “Once it was received, it was assigned to my team. We check the documents of the phones, which include the request for analysis pointing out what the investigation wants us to check on the phone.
These include the call logs, text messages, WhatsApp communications, etc. It also has a consent form which includes the name of the owner of the device and the password of the device if it has any. It also has a chain of custody of the phones; that is how the phones have moved from one person to another, he said
Click to watch
