Emefiele Trial: Court Adjourns As Defence Witness Admits EFCC Caution, Signs, No Petition Over Alleged Coercion

A Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja has adjourned the trial-within-trial in the ongoing criminal case involving former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, to Friday, January 16.
Justice Ramon Oshodi adjourned the proceedings after listening to testimony from Nnamdi Offia, a lawyer who appeared as a defence witness and testified under cross-examination by the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN).
During cross-examination, Offia admitted that the defendant was formally cautioned in his presence and that he signed the caution statement. He also acknowledged that he participated fully in the statement-taking process and understood that whatever the second defendant wrote could be used against him in court.
Offia further admitted that he never filed a petition nor made any formal complaint against the EFCC over the alleged misconduct of its investigative team. He also confirmed that the judge who handled the fundamental rights enforcement suit did not find the EFCC guilty of harassment or misconduct, adding that his client was never harassed in his presence.
However, at the resumed hearing on Thursday, the witness narrated a different experience during interrogation. He told the court that the second defendant, Omoile, informed him that the head of the EFCC interrogation team had assured him of bail — and possibly no charges — if he cooperated by providing incriminating evidence against the first defendant, Emefiele.
Offia alleged that the interrogation was conducted in a strict question-and-answer format, where the defendant was only allowed to write answers that aligned with what the investigators wanted.
“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. I objected many times,” Offia told the court.
He added that on February 26, 2024, the EFCC officers ended the session by informing him that the defendant would be detained because investigations were not concluded.
According to Offia, on February 27, he arrived to find his client being interrogated in his absence. When he questioned this, an officer identified as David allegedly challenged his authority, leading to a heated exchange before he was escorted out of the premises.
Offia said he reported the incident to the head of the team, who asked him not to worry and advised him to wait. He claimed he was denied access to his client until about 8pm, when the defendant was returned to the detention facility.
He further stated that his client was detained for 21 days, prompting him to file a fundamental rights suit at the Federal High Court in Lagos. Although the court, presided over by Justice Muslim Suleiman Hassan, granted bail, it ordered that the defendant be remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre pending the perfection of bail conditions.
Justice Oshodi subsequently adjourned the matter to January 16 for continuation of the hearing.