Symbol of justice
Ernest Chinwo 

A Port Harcourt High Court has fixed
October 17 for the ruling on bail
applications filed by the 12 persons
standing trial for the killing of four students
of the University of Port Harcourt in
Omuokiri-Aluu community River State, last
year.
The accused persons, including the
paramount ruler of the community, Alhaji
Hassan Welewa, are standing trial on eight-
count charge of murder and neglect to
prevent felony in the lynching of the four
students.
The trial judge, Justice Letam Nyordee, fixed
the date at the resumed hearing of the case
yesterday as the prosecution opened its
case with the presentation of its first
witness, Raphael Ezeji, a Deputy
Supreintended of Police (DSP) at the Criminal
Investigation Department (CID) of the state
Police Command.
Ezeji told the court that on October 5, 2012,
his department received a report from
Omuokiri town in Aluu community that four
undergraduates of the university were
stripped naked, paraded and about to be
set ablaze.
He said the police dispatched a team from
Isiokpo division to the scene of the incident
to rescue the students but due to the
distance, the students were set ablaze
before the arrival of the police.
Ezeji, who was led in evidence by the state
Solicitor-General in the state Ministry of
Justice, Mr. Rufus Godwins, as the
prosecuting counsel, said he visited the
scene of the crime with other policemen
and saw the deceased persons, jerry cans,
clothes and condemned tyres.
The witness said he took photographs of
the deceased persons and a dog said to
have been used to torture the students,
adding that information were also gathered
from internet which were recorded.
As the prosecution sought to tender the
photographs and negative, the defence
counsel objected to their admissibility,
contending that the police officer was not
the maker of the documents.
They also argued that no proper foundation
had been made for the admissibility of the
photographs and negative, and urged the
court to reject the intended exhibits by the
prosecution.
Replying, the prosecuting counsel, Godwins,
said a foundation was made based on the
records of proceedings by the court and
urged the court to dismiss the objections
raised which he described as misconceived
by the defence.
The counsel told the court that the witness
was the maker of the documents sought to
be tendered based on his evidence, and
dismissed the contention by the defence
that the documents were of public nature.
The defence also applied for the bail of the
accused persons, stating that they were
eligible to granted bail even though the
matter was a capital offence.
“We agree it is a capital offence but at the
same time it is a bailable offence, and these
people are presumed to be innocent until
proven otherwise. It is the judge who at the
end of the trial will state if he is guilty or
not. But as at now, he is presumed
innocent. Let’s forget about public
sentiment. Sentiment is not the law. The
court knows better; so we leave it to the
discretion of the court,” the defence
counsel said.
But Godwins objected to the application,
stating that the accused persons had not
shown convincing grounds for the bail to
be granted.
He said: “It is normal for people to apply for
bail as they have done; it is their right. It is
also the right of the deceased to be
defended, even in their graves, because it is
the public interest that is at stake here, the
values of the public. So we are here to
ensure that the scale of justice is evenly
handed and handled with the required
equity to the accused person, the deceased
and the society.”
The court therefore adjourned the matter
to October 17 for ruling on both
applications.
Welewa and three others were charged
with negligence to prevent the murder of
the four students, namely Ugonna Obuzor,
Lloyd Toku Mike, Tekena Elkanah and
Chiadika Biringa, while Lawal Segun and
seven others were charged with murder of
the students on the fateful day.