A
Federal High Court Abuja presided over by Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, was on
Monday January 23 told how a former Managing Director of Aeronautical
Engineering and Technical Services Limited (AETSL), a company owned by
the Nigeria Air Force, Air Vice Marshal Tony Omenyi received over one
hundred and thirty six million Naira kick back from Syrius Technologies
and Sky Experts Limited - two contractors of the Nigeria Air Force.
Omenyi
is standing trial before the court on a 3-count charge bordering on
abuse of office and money laundering to the tune of N136.325.000.00 (one
hundred and thirty six million, three hundred and twenty five thousand
naira). He pleaded not guilty to the charge.
At the resumed
trial on Monday, the EFCC called its first witness (PW1) Hassan Saidu,
an EFCC Principal Detective, who was led in evidence by the prosecuting
counsel, M.S. Abubakar.
Saidu informed the
court that the investigation of the defendants by the EFCC was triggered
by a letter from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA)
dated 9th December, 2015 alleging that the defendant was operating
suspicious accounts. When the prosecutor sought to tender the letter in
Evidence, the defendant’s counsel Gordy Uche, SAN objected on the
grounds that the letter was supposed to have been certified by the ONSA
and not by EFCC.
Abubakar countered the
argument by citing Section 104(I) of the Evidence Act, 2011 which states
that it is the public officer in custody of a document that should
certify it. Thus, in the case at hand the EFCC was the proper agency to
certify the document. The court agreed with the argument of the
prosecution and admitted the document in evidence.
Continuing
with his evidence, Saidu stated that “in January, 2014 the contractors
were paid the sum of over N202 million and they in turn paid the sum of
N24.8 million to the defendant’s company. While in April, 2014 the
contractors were paid the sum of about N690 million and transferred the
sum of N61.5 million out of it to the defendant’s company, HUZEE Nigeria
Limited. Finally on 18th November, 2014 the contractor paid the sum of
N50 Million to Air Vice Marshal Omenyi’s company after receiving about
N556 million from the Nigerian Air Force”.
The case has been adjourned to 16 February, 2017 for continuation of trial.
Wilson Uwujaren
Head Media & Publicity
24th January, 2017
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