By Peter Duru, Makurdi

Hearing has commenced in the Coroner’s Inquest into the gruesome murder of a Senior Inspector of Taxes at the Benue Internal Revenue Service, BIRS, Mr. Sixtus Akure, by persons suspected to be military personnel in Makurdi.

The inquest was ordered by the Chief Judge of Benue State, Justice Aondover Kaka’an, after the lifeless body of Mr. Akure, a tax official attached to a BIRS Gazetted Inspection Point located near the “C” Division Police Station in the North-Bank area of Makurdi, was found by the roadside near Aper Aku Estate a day after he was said to have been abducted at his duty post on Saturday January 16, 2022 in the same North-Bank area and whisked away by persons suspected to be men of the Nigerian Army.

At the commencement of hearing Friday, at the Makurdi Chief Magistrate Court 1, presided over by Mr. Vincent Kor, lead counsel to BIRS, Mr. Mike Utsaha drew the attention of the court to the provisions of Section 19 of the Evidence Act which provided that witnesses deposed to their evidences and statements on oath and same filed before the court.

He noted that the provision ensures speedy hearing as such depositions are adopted in court by the parties concerned which saves the court the pains of listening to the oral testimonies of the parties.

After listening to the submission of the counsel, the presiding Magistrate, Mr. Kor ordered that all the parties and witnesses in the matter deposed to their statements and testimonies on oath and file same before the court before the next adjourned date.

The Magistrate also directed that fresh hearing notices be served all the parties in the matter and adjourned sitting to March 22, 2022.

Speaking to newsmen shortly after, Mr. Utsaha explained that the depositions by the parties “are affidavits or statements that have been made on oath. The law requires that this should be filed and should be before the court.

“Even though like I mentioned to the judge, the law also says that the process is not bound by strict compliance to the rules of evidence. But it can go anyway, we do not want a situation where someone will tomorrow launch an attack on the entire procedure saying that it violated subsections of the law.

“So that is why we did not proceed today. The Coroner has powers to summon witnesses to come before it. But there are some who are within our control, for those ones we are going to reduce their testimonies into writing and have them formally depose to. We will file those statements before the court.

“But for those that are not within our control they can come and deliver their oral evidence.”

Mr. Utsaha also clarified that the inquest would not in anyway interfere with police investigations into the murder of the tax official.

“The process will not interfere with the ongoing police investigation into the death because the law takes care of absolutely everything. Indeed the law allows the Coroner to even make an order as far as carry out an autopsy or even go and exhume the body if it has been buried; it is a far reaching law that has provisions.

“So it is not in conflict with anything or any other thing that a law enforcing agency or any other institution of government may want to carry out.

“There is no conflict at all. It talks about the role of the Local Government Chairman, it talks about the role of traditional rulers, it talks about the role of the Attorney General, it talks about what the Coroner can do if at the end of the day he finds that someone appears to have been responsible for the death.

“He is in a position to make a report to the Attorney General and ultimately to the High Court. So there is absolutely no conflict whatsoever,” he said.

Listed to testify before the inquest were 25 persons including a humanitarian worker, Mr. Ukan Kurugh, personnel of the BIRS, the Police, military, medical personnel and other individuals.