I signed statement under duress -ALUU Four suspect

One of the suspects standing trial in the murder of four students of the University of Port Harcourt, Segun Lawal, has said that the statement on his involvement in the crime was signed under duress.

Lawal, who is the first accused person among the 12 suspects standing trial for the murder of the UNIPORT students, told the court on Thursday that he was tortured by the police who wrote his statement.

He recalled that the police had played the video clip of the incident that led to the death of Lloyd Toku Mike, Tekenah Elkanah, Ugonna Obuzor and Chiadika Biringa.

The accused person, who said he sustained head and back injuries as a result of the torture at the police station, told the court that the statement, which he signed involuntarily, was not read to him.

Lawal explained that he was the person in the video clip appealing to the mob to stop beating the victims.

The accused person expressed dissatisfaction over the number of question thrown at him by the state Solicitor-General, Mr. Rufus Godwins, saying, “I did not prepare for all these. You are rushing me.”

Godwins added that the onus was on the accused person to prove that he made this statement under duress since the police denied taking his (Lawal) statement under duress.

He added that the first accused person did not show evidence of any medical report from the Prison medical officials that he sustained any injury as a result of torture by the police.

However, lawyer to the accused person, who gave his name as Kehinde, contested his client’s admittance of the statement.

Kehinde insisted that his client’s (Lawal) declaration was made involuntarily and asked the court to reject the statement, saying, “Upon the rejoinder of issues in the case, the entire scenario was designed to make the statement involuntary.”

But the trial judge, Justice Letam Nyordee, who adjourned the matter till March 13 and 27, 2014, explained that he would take the accused persons evidence before ruling on the voluntariness or otherwise of their statements.

Others standing trial in the murder of the four UNIPORT students are a community leader in Aluu, Alhaji Hassan Welewa, ex-Sergeant Lucky Orji, Ikechukwu Louis Amadi (aka Kapoon), David Chinasa Ogbada, Abiodu Yusuf, Joshua Ekpe and Abang Cyril.

Others are John Ayuwa, Okoghiroh Endurance, Ozioma Abajuo and Chigozie Evans Samuel.