Symbol of justice

George Okoh

The Federal High Court sitting in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital,Monday discharged and acquitted four of the accused persons in a case of N15 billion money laundering involving the immediate past Governor of Nasarawa State, Aliyu Akwe Doma, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The presiding judge, Justice Okeke Agatha, discharged the four accused after accepting the amended charges brought by EFCC.

The four accused persons, Abdulmumin Jibrin, Senator John  Danboyi, Suleiman Ibrahim and Green Forest Limited,  were discharged after the anti-graft commission deleted their names from the charge sheet after the charges were reduced from 54  to 10-count charge.

The accused persons have been standing trial since October last year, along with Doma on charges of money laundering.
The case, which suffered series of adjournments was re-assigned to the present judge after the former judge, Justice Marcel Awkolehin, stopped further proceedings.

Justice Agatha further urged the EFCC to bring their witnesses at the next sitting date as the court would not welcome any adjournment on the matter.

Doma and two other government officials, who were now left in the case, however, pleaded not guilty as the trial judge adjourned the matter to February 18, 2012.