A Federal High Court in Abuja has discharged and acquitted former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume from allegations of links with the Boko Haram.
Justice Gabriel Kolawole upheld the no case submission made by Ndume, saying there was nothing to warrant calling the defendant to enter his defence.
The judge further ruled that the mobile telephone purportedly Nokia 2700, three digital video discs (DVDs) containing call logs paired with his phone Nokia E7, did not link him to the charges.
The judge said prosecution failed to call as witnesses eminent personalities, such as former vice president Namadi Sambo and former Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS), to whom Ndume, as a member of the Presidential Committee on the Resolution of Crisis in the Northeast, claimed to have shared information of his contact with elements of the terrorist sect.
The judge further observed that the prosecution failed to call the convicted member of the sect, Ali Konduga, who purportedly interacted with Ndume. He added that the absence of relevant witnesses created doubts that have to be resolved in favour of the defence.
“I have not seen evidence that suggests that the defendant supports the terrorist Boko Haram sect,” he said.
Ndume’s counsel, Rickey Tarfa (SAN), had on June 6 filed a no case submission on the grounds that the prosecution failed to establish allegations against his client.
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