A lawyer charged with the murder of her husband and cutting off his manhood on Monday prayed an Igbosere High Court in Lagos to reject confessional statements allegedly made by her.

The defendant, Udeme Otike-Odibi, prayed the court through her counsel, Mr Oluseye Banjoko, not to conduct a trial-within-trial to determine the admissibility of two statements allegedly made by the defendant during police investigations.

The defendant was arraigned on June 13, 2018, on a two-count of the murder of her husband, Symphorosa, and misconduct with regard to his corpse.

She was charged by the Lagos State Government.

According to the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions, Mrs Titilayo Shitta-Bey, Udeme stabbed Symphorosa, also a lawyer, to death and mutilated his corpse by cutting off his genitals, on May 3, 2018.

Shitta-Bey alleged that the defendant committed the offences at their residence on Diamond Estate, Sangotedo, Lekki, Lagos State.

She said that the offences contravened Sections 165 (b) and 223 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

Udeme, however, pleaded not guilty but was remanded.

On Jan. 23, the court adjourned until Feb. 25 to conduct a trial-within-trial to determine the admissibility of the defendant’s alleged confessional statements.

At the resumed hearing on Monday, the defendant’s counsel, Banjoko, urged the court not to conduct the trial-within-trial.

Banjoko said that the constitution made provisions that the statement of any person arrested must be made in the presence of a lawyer or videoed.

He said that Section 93 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) of Lagos State, 2015, also made it mandatory that the constitutional provision must be followed to achieve transparency.

“Why the law was made was so that we do not waste the time of the court in going into trial-within-trial to determine the admissibility of statements.

“Our application is for an order rejecting the alleged confessional statements since the provision of the law was not followed,” Banjoko said.

However, the prosecutor submitted that the constitution provided that the substantive law to be adhered to in determining the admissibility of any piece of evidence would be the Evidence Act.

Shitta-Bey said that the ACJL which was referred to by the defence counsel, “is a procedural law which cannot supercede the Evidence Act”.

She cited a Court of Appeal case which was decided in April 2018 – Chijioke Emmanuel versus the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

She said the appeal court, in that case, held that the provisions of the Evidence Act should be followed in proving the admissibility of any piece of evidence.

She said,

“The Court of Appeal went further to state that Section 93 of ACJL is only relevant to the weight to be attached to the admissibility of any evidence after a trial-within-trial has been conducted.

“The court should be allowed to proceed with the trial-within-trial to determine the admissibility of the defendant’s statements.”

The defendant’s counsel could not reply on points of law.

Justice Adedayo Akintoye adjourned the case until April 21 for further hearing.

On Jan. 23, the ninth prosecution witness, ASP Olusegun Bamidele, told the court that Udeme confessed to killing her husband and cutting his manhood.

Bamidele told the court that he was the head of a team of policemen which investigated the killing and that he personally recorded the defendant’s statement.

He said it was at a police hospital, during an interactive session, that Udeme wrote a detailed confessional statement.

He said the defendant spoke freely after identifying herself as a lawyer.

When Shitta-Bey sought to tender the two statements which Udeme allegedly made, her counsel opposed the admissibility of the statements.

Banjoko prayed the court not to admit the statements in evidence, saying that they were not made in the presence of the defendant’s lawyer as required by law.

(NAN)