Alleged armed robbery: Police conspired against me, it’s their practice, dismissed officer tells court

A dismissed policeman, Ejeh James, charged with armed robbery on Wednesday told the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) that he did not commit the offence he was charged with, rather the police conspired against him.

Ejeh, 36, was on November 7, 2017, arraigned before Justice Peter Kekemeke, sitting at Nyanya, Abuja, alongside another dismissed policeman, Simon Abraham (36) by the police in the FCT on a two-count charge bordering on conspiracy and armed robbery.

The police alleged that the defendants on January 18, 2017, conspired between themselves to commit armed robbery, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 6 of the Robbery and Fire Arms (Special Provisions) Act, 2004.

They further alleged that the defendants on the same date while armed with two AK-47 rifles with live ammunition robbed one Christine Makar and her driver on the Airport junction in Abuja of their personal belongings, ATM cards and a Mazda 626 car.

This, the police said, was an offence punishable under Section 1 (2) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act 2004.

In his testimony in his defence, James told the court that he knew nothing about the police allegations against him, adding that some of his former colleagues in the police conspired against him.

Asked under cross-examination by the prosecuting counsel, Kufreabasi Ebong, how possible it was for all the five prosecution witnesses, three police officers and two civilians, to conspire and lie against him, James told the court conspiracy was not a new thing in the police.

“Sir, it is not a new thing. They (police) conspired against me because that is what police have been doing,” the first defendant told the court.

He informed me that he was in the operations unit when he was in the police, saying that, “right now I am not a policeman.”

At the end of his testimony, his counsel, Mimidoo Anundu, informed the court that the first defendant had closed his case with James’ evidence.

Following this, Justice Kekemeke adjourned the case till March 18 for the second defendant, Simon Abraham, to open his defence.

Counsel for Abraham, Ocheme Adama, had earlier told the court that the second defendant was ready for his defence.

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