Emefiele's lawyers say EFCC statements were obtained under torture

So yesterday at the Lagos Special Offences Court, we heard that Godwin Emefiele's lawyer, Olalekan Ojo SAN, is arguing that the statements the former CBN governor made while in EFCC custody were not voluntary. He told the court these statements were obtained through oppression and physical and mental torture while Emefiele was detained by the SSS for over 157 days. The man is facing 22 charges of $4.5 billion fraud, and the defence is saying the only evidence the prosecution has was forced out of him.

What is interesting is that the EFCC investigator, Alvan Gurumnaan, admitted they are withdrawing the statement dated October 26, 2023, but they still want to use statements from October 27, 30, November 1 and 2. The Director of Public Prosecutions, Rotimi Oyedepo SAN, is arguing that none of those remaining statements amount to a confession anyway. But if they are not confessions, why are they fighting so hard to tender them? Something does not add up.

Meanwhile Henry Omoile, the co-defendant, told the court he made false claims in his statement because investigators pressured him to implicate Emefiele. The judge, Rahman Oshodi, has set July 9 for the ruling on whether these statements can be admitted. My question is simple: in a country where the rule of law is supposed to mean something, can we really trust evidence that was allegedly extracted under 157 days of detention without proper safeguards?