A defense witness on Thursday told the Special Offences Court in Ikeja that officials of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission attempted to coerce his client into implicating former central bank governor Governor Emefiele.
The witness, Nnamdi Offial, who represents Henry Omoile, the second defendant in the case, made the allegation while testifying in a trial-within-a-trial ordered by Justice Rahman Oshodi to determine whether Omoile’s statement to the EFCC was given voluntarily.
Offial said EFCC investigators offered inducements, including the promise of bail and possible nonprosecution, if Omoile agreed to provide incriminating evidence against Emefiele. Emefiele and Omoile are standing trial over alleged fraud involving $4.5 billion and 2.8 million naira, as well as charges of accepting gratification, receiving gifts through agents, corruption and fraudulent receipt of property.
Prosecutors have also accused the defendants of conferring corrupt advantages on associates, contrary to the Corrupt Practices Act 2000. Both men have pleaded not guilty.
At the resumed hearing, Offial testified that the head of the EFCC interrogation team assured Omoile that cooperation would earn him leniency. He alleged that investigators conducted the questioning in a restrictive question-and-answer format and refused to allow Omoile to write responses that did not align with their expectations.
“On several occasions, questions were put to the second defendant and he answered, but he was not allowed to write them down because the answers did not conform to what the interrogators wanted him to say. I objected to this many times,” Offial said.
He added that after an interrogation session on Feb. 26, 2024, officers informed him that Omoile would remain in detention. The following day, Offial said, he found his client being interrogated without his presence and challenged the process.
Offial told the court that an officer identified as David confronted him over his intervention, leading to a confrontation during which he was escorted out of the EFCC premises.
