DSS presents video on Farouk Lawan, Otedola bribery meeting

The Department of State Services (DSS) on Tues­day presented a video evidence to the Federal Capital Territory ( FCT) High Court, Lugbe, where a businessman, Mr Femi Otedola, was seen giv­ing out a parcel to Hon Farouk Lawan.

Justice Angela Otaruku granted the request of the pros­ecuting counsel, Mr Adegboye­ga Awomolo (SAN), to play the video as evidence of Lawan collecting the said bribe from Otedola.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the request was made when Awom­olo led the DSS prosecutor, Mr David Ojataha, the principal of­ficer-in-charge of DSS Technical Operations, in evidence.

The video, revealing an ex­change of parcel, lasted for al­most three minutes.

“The video I just played are those of Mr Femi Otedola and Hon Farouk Lawan where there was an exchange of parcel at Otedola’s house in Aso drive, Abuja,” said Awomolo.

The DSS prosecutor, how­ever, told the court that he was saddled with the responsibility of recording the video by the DSS because of his background as an Electronic and Telecom­munication Engineer.

He told the court that he did his work diligently during the course of the investigation as an expert.

He said that though he did not participate in the arrest and detention of the defendant as that was not part of his duty, he only recorded the said video.

Ojataha added that he did not also take any statement from the defendant during the course of the investigation.

He said that he was only in­structed to cover the meeting between both parties based on complaints from Otedola.

Mr Mike Ozekhome, the defendant’s counsel, while cross-examining the DSS pros­ecutor, said that the device used in playing the CD had no imprint of time and event in the video.

Ozekhome said that there was nothing to show that the defendant was there to receive a bribe.

He added that there was also nothing in the video to suggest that bribery was discussed be­cause such words like “bribe” were not heard in the video.-The Authority