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mrsam
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Counsel to billionaire kidnapper Evans, Mr Olukoya Ogungbeje, has revealed that the police forced the guilty plea from him and affirmed that his client would change his plea by the next adjourned date.
He said: “I can tell you categorically and unequivocally that it was motivated, influenced, forced on him by the police. I assure you, by the next adjourned date, that guilty plea would be changed to not guilty.
“He told me personally that the police told him if he doesn’t plead guilty, they would kill him. This morning, they did not allow me to see him. That is why I was telling the judge to grant us an adjournment to enable us confer with our client in line with provisions of section 36 (6) (2) of the constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“After he pleaded guilty, I struggled to get to him and ask him: ‘Why did you do so’? He told me the police asked him to do so and added that he is ready to change his plea.”
The Second Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Monday Ubani, however has commended Mr Evans and described his guilt plea as a welcomed development for the young man not to waste the time of the government in persecuting the case.
He said Evans has done himself good by not trying to deny which is common with almost all the defendants in criminal cases and urged the court not to give him a ridiculous sentence on account of that.
Director, Access to Justice, Mr. Joseph Otteh, also said it is a positive development. He noted that from the very beginning, Evans has been singing like a canary, granting press interviews, admitting to the crime and made confessions.
He said: “May be, he wants to come clean because he has seen the strength of the case against him or out of the generousity of heart, he wants to make peace with himself and face the punishment. But on a broader level, it is a good thing.
Otteh, however, added that it is important for the court to establish if his plea of guilt was voluntarily made.
“Once the court establishes that he elected to plead guilty voluntarily, it should reward that gesture by not giving him the maximum sentence so that other people can emulate that and come forward with the truth as quickly as possible.”
He said: “I can tell you categorically and unequivocally that it was motivated, influenced, forced on him by the police. I assure you, by the next adjourned date, that guilty plea would be changed to not guilty.
“He told me personally that the police told him if he doesn’t plead guilty, they would kill him. This morning, they did not allow me to see him. That is why I was telling the judge to grant us an adjournment to enable us confer with our client in line with provisions of section 36 (6) (2) of the constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“After he pleaded guilty, I struggled to get to him and ask him: ‘Why did you do so’? He told me the police asked him to do so and added that he is ready to change his plea.”
The Second Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Monday Ubani, however has commended Mr Evans and described his guilt plea as a welcomed development for the young man not to waste the time of the government in persecuting the case.
He said Evans has done himself good by not trying to deny which is common with almost all the defendants in criminal cases and urged the court not to give him a ridiculous sentence on account of that.
Director, Access to Justice, Mr. Joseph Otteh, also said it is a positive development. He noted that from the very beginning, Evans has been singing like a canary, granting press interviews, admitting to the crime and made confessions.
He said: “May be, he wants to come clean because he has seen the strength of the case against him or out of the generousity of heart, he wants to make peace with himself and face the punishment. But on a broader level, it is a good thing.
Otteh, however, added that it is important for the court to establish if his plea of guilt was voluntarily made.
“Once the court establishes that he elected to plead guilty voluntarily, it should reward that gesture by not giving him the maximum sentence so that other people can emulate that and come forward with the truth as quickly as possible.”
