…Blames police for shoddy prosecution
By Esther Rewane and Damilola Adebiyi
Justice Oyindamola Ogala of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos yesterday discharged a man Bassey Achhibong arraigned by the Police for allegedly sexually abusing his four daughters in the Ikorodu area of Lagos.
Archibong was arraigned before the court in 2019 for allegedly having carnal knowledge of his four biological daughters (names withheld) at different times when they were between the ages of 10 to 15 years.
During the trial, the Police tendered an alleged confessional statement of the defendant where he confessed to committing the crime.
The Police also tendered the statements made by the defendant’s four daughters and a medical report which indicated that they were sexually assaulted.
In his defence, the defendant however claimed that he made the confessional statement tendered by the Police under duress.
He insisted that he never had carnal knowledge or sexually assaulted his daughters but that instead he had reported to the police that a pastor raped one of his daughters.
The defendant’s wife in her testimony also insisted that her husband was innocent of the allegations brought against him by the Police.
She testified that her husband had never sexually assaulted their daughter but that it was a pastor who was caught pants down with one of her daughters and that the matter was reported to the police.
Delivering judgment in the matter, yesterday, Justice Ogala held that the prosecution did not present sufficient evidence to warrant the conviction of the defendant for the allegation of sexual assault.
The judge faulted the prosecution’s failure to call vital witnesses, (the alleged victim) whose testimony could have been crucial to establishing guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
She held that the absence of the vital witnesses weakened the prosecution’s case and raised doubts about the reliability of the evidence presented.
The judge also faulted the prosecution for not calling the medical practitioner who prepared the medical report on the laboratory test conducted on the four daughters.
“Having carefully examined the evidence presented before this court by the prosecution and defendant, and despite the serious nature of the allegations, the court found that the evidence presented by the prosecution is not sufficient to establish guilt of the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt. The defendant is hereby discharged,” the judge stated.
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