A
Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Forensics, Force Headquarters,
Abuja, Mr. Ovie Oyokomino, yesterday gave a vivid description on how assassins
gained entry into the late Funsho Williams’ apartment. Williams was the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Lagos State in 2003.
Oyokomino,
a prosecution witness, told the trial judge, Justice Adeniyi Adebajo, of a
Lagos High Court that the perishable evidence such as blood samples as well as
sample extracted from the diseased’s eye got bad due to interrupted power
supply in the course of refrigerating.
“They
used a green colour nylon rope notched in a number of places for easy usage to
descend into the deceased’s apartment. We collected the rope, mattress,
containing shoe print, cushion in the living room that had shoe print.
We
also found a blood stained Kong sleeve shirt, pink in colour, in a Samsonite
suitcase in the third room.”
According
to him, a mattress and cushion containing shoe prints were collected from the
deceased’s house at Corporation Drive, Dolphin Estate, Ikoyi, adding that a
blood stained pink coloured shirt was found in a Samsonite suitcase in the third
bedroom.
He
said: “I got there at about 12:30pm with my men. There were many people there.
We could hardly get into the scene with our vehicle.
“The
deceased was in a lying position on the floor; his arms were tied behind him.
His head region was under the bed and we observed blood around the head on the
floor. “He was wearing a multicoloured Ankara in ‘Buba and Sokoto. The Sokoto
had shifted and thereby revealing white under pant. There was evidence of
ransacking the whole upstairs including, the family’s living room and master
bedroom.
“We
processed for finger prints, shoe prints and noted the position of things
considered to be relevant for our forensic work, which included one empty scab
board without the dagger.
“We
did not move the body from the position we found it. The pathologist who
subsequently moved the body discovered the dagger under it.” The witness noted
that there was a manhole in the ceiling which was a concrete ceiling, saying:
“An opening of 2×2 covered with a plywood board was made in the ceiling. The
manhole was just two feet from the dividing wall of the duplexes and it was
similar to the other side. The building has a common roof’’.
According
to Oyokomino, the police at that time relied on the mode of entry into the
apartment to effect arrest and two suspects, who had previously broken into
apartment in similar pattern, were nabbed. He said DNA materials were collected
from the suspects and tested in a forensic laboratory in Britain, adding that
the suspects were later released after the DNA report exonerated them.
Besides,
Oyokomino told the court that Investigating Police Officer (IPO) in charge of
the case later came back with suspects apprehended with the cell phone of the
deceased, which was removed the day the incident occurred. The witness said:
“We obtained the blood sample from the suspects while in detention. Samples
were sent for DNA profile, which was reported inconclusive.
This
was reported to the prosecuting counsel who immediately set in motion to obtain
fresh smoke through a court order at the High Court.
“I
was later informed that the judge at the time gave an order but I never saw the
Certified True Copy till now. It was only recently that I learnt that the order
could not be carried out because the presiding judge at that time died without
signing the order she made.”
He
also told the court that a fresh order had been secured from the Magistrate’s
Court to obtain blood samples of the new suspects along with those of the
police men who were attached to the deceased and his private security guard.
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