Onitsha High Court Grants Application By GUO Okeke That Weapons Used In His Kidnap Be Displayed In Court

                                     

An Onitsha High Court in Anambra State, presided over by Justice Chudi Nwankwo yesterday granted an application to bring and display all the weapons used during the kidnap of Chairman of GUO Motors Limited, Chief Godwin Okeke in Onitsha on Sunday, August 23, 2009, by his kidnappers.

Justice Nwankwo who granted the application at the resumed hearing of the case, ordered that the matter be stood down midway into the evidence of the third Prosecution Witness, PW3, Victor Edet, one of the police officers who investigated Okeke's kidnap case between 2009 and 2011.

Nwankwo's order to stand down the case came immediately after Edet listed the names and types of the weapons used during the kidnap saga as the prosecution counsel, Chris Ajugwe informed the court that police authorities in Anambra State were insisting that it was only Edet in the witness box that could be allowed to sign and collect the weapons from the police armoury.

Ajugwe therefore pleaded with the court to stand the case down so that Edet could rush to State Special Anti-Robbery Squad Headquarters at Awkuzu to sign and bring the weapons for display in the court, that same yesterday..

At once, the court granted Ajugwe's request and stood the case down to enable Edet go for the weapons and come back to display them, after which he would continue with his evidence and cross-examination from the defence counsels.

However, when Edet could not come back within a time frame, both the prosecution and defence counsels went back to the court and informed the presiding judge that they learnt there were some hiccups which hindered Edet from coming back to the court with the weapons on time and they prayed the court to shift the matter till the next adjourned dates being April 1, 3, 4 and 9, for continuation, which the court granted.

Earlier before the case was stood down, Edet had in his brief evidence, told the court how the defendants were arrested by a combined team of policemen and vigilant groups, as well as how their weapons were recovered. 

Edet told the court that when Okeke, the complainant came to SARS at Awkuzu and reported that he was kidnapped and they took his statement, the state police command constituted an investigation team made up of himself and other policemen.

He said as they were carrying out the investigations, they arrested one Emeka Eze who was already in the police wanted list and he confessed to the crime.

He said after Eze confessed, the complainant, Okeke pleaded with him to reveal the identities and wherebouts of his gang members and their armoury to the police so that he would be granted bail.

The PW3 who mentioned some of the weapons as AK 47 riffles, GPMG, rocket launchers, magazines and a good number of ammunitions, said it was based on that assurance from Okeke that Eze led the police to where the defendants were arrested, adding that it was the same Eze that took the police and the vigilant group to their armoury where all the weapons were found in a bush at Nando community in Anambra East Local Government Area of the state.