Court denies Maina’s son transfer to Kuje correctional facility

Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday denied the request by Maina’s son, Faisal Abdulrasheed Maina to be transferred from Police special tactical squad in Asokoro to Kuje correctional facility.

The request for the transfer was made by the defendant’s counsel, Francis Oransaye when he narrated that his colleague was denied access to Faisal.

Oransaye, who pleaded for an adjournment on the hearing of bail application to a much later date when the defendant’s counsel would have been able to have access to Faisal and properly and effectively react to the averment contained in counter affidavit served on 1st November 2019.

The prosecution, Mohammed Abubakar, however, asked the court to confer with the Police authorities before granting the application for the defendant to be relocated to Kuje correctional facility.

He stated that he cannot say whether the relocation of the defendant will tamper with police investigations since the defendant is being investigated for illegal possession of firearms and allied offences.

In his bench ruling, Justice Abang said: “There is no credible and admissible evidence before the court that the police refused access to the defendant. Counsel is reporting what another counsel told him and that counsel is not in court.”

The judge said that the court cannot act on the realm of speculation and that there is no proof before the court that the police denied access to the defendant.

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The court had ruled that the defendant be remanded at the police special tactical squad Asokoro, and the trial will commence on Wednesday 6th November 2019.

However, the court held that arguments on the bail application will be heard on 7th November.

The trial commenced with a witness from the prosecution, Mairo Mohammed Bashir, Abdulrasheed Maina’s sister-in-law who works as a Business Manager at Maitama, Abuja branch of a first-generation bank.

She testified that she opened an account in the name of Alhaji Faisal Abdullahi Farm 2 with Faisal Abdulrasheed Maina and his father, Abdulrasheed Maina as signatories.

Bank account opening documents from the bank were tendered as evidence, but the defendant’s counsel opposed the admissibility of the document as evidence stating that evidence must be tendered by the maker of the document.

Justice Abang, in the ruling, stated that the documents can be tendered as evidence because they were submitted to the bank as account opening document.

He also said that the document can be tendered through any staff of the bank that has a personal knowledge of the content of the document and admitted the documents in exhibit A series.

The trial was adjourned at the instance of the defendant to 21st and 22nd November.