Ex-air chief, Dikko’s trial resumes

The trial of former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Mohammed Dikko Umar, resumed yesterday, before Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja where the prosecuting counsel, Sylvanus Tahir, cross-examined the defendant.

Dikko was first arraigned on January 25, 2017, on a seven-count charge of money laundering and N9.7 billion procurement fraud.

But on February 23, 2021, Justice Dimgba, ruling on a no-case submission filed by the defendant, discharged and acquitted the former Chief of Air Staff on six out of the seven-count money laundering charge preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The court said it found merit in a no-case submission the defendant filed in relation to counts one, two, three, four, five and six of the charge. It, however, refused and dismissed the no-case submission in relation to count seven.

At the courtroom, yesterday, the prosecuting counsel asked Dikko to tell the court how long he served the Nigerian Air Force, and any other thing he does, apart from working with the Air Force.

The defendant told the court that he served 36 years with the Air Force and owns three farms in Kaduna and Abuja. He said while the Abuja farm sits on 17 hectares, the other two in Kaduna are four hectares and 200 hectares, respectively. He added that he took over as Chief of Air Staff on September 8, 2010, and retired on October 1, 2012.

Dimgba, thereafter, adjourned the matter till Thursday, September 30, 2021, for the continuation of trial.
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