Metuh Destroyed Evidence Mentioning Jonathan, Witness Tells Court

AT the resumption of the ‘destruction of evidence’ proceeding against spokesman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Olisa Metuh, yesterday, a prosecution witness of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Junaid Said, told the FCT High Court in Maitama that Metuh allegedly destroyed a written statement he had volunteered to the commission containing details that made references to former President Goodluck Jonathan.
 
Junaid, an EFCC Special Task Force Team member, led in evidence by Mr. Tahir Sylvanus (SAN), who is the 1st Prosecution Witness (PW1) in the case, also stated before Justice Ishaq Bello that Metuh, in the torn evidence, had admitted receiving the sum of N400 million for political activities of the PDP, which he used to settle personal debts.
 
Junaid told the court that Metuh honoured the invitation of the EFCC and was interrogated by himself, Ibrahim Musa, Michael Wetkas, Bello Umar, David Nkpe, Bello Adama and Eucharia Ibrahim.

He said: “In course of investigations, a team visited the residence of Metuh on January 5, 2016 and invited him to the EFCC, where he was interviewed.
 
“After the interview, he was asked if he was willing to volunteer his statement, to which he said ‘yes.’
 
“When he concluded writing the statement on four sheets of EFCC statement forms, the defendant (Metuh) said that he was surprised that he had written that much and that he felt he had given too much information.”
 
The witness also told the court that when his superiors, Musa and Wetkas, read the statement and handed it over back to him and he took it to the defendant (Metuh) for him to endorse it.

He explained that because of Metuh’s statement earlier that he had written too much, he became cautious and didn’t give him the statement all at once, but gave him one by one.
 
The witness stated that after Metuh had read and endorsed the first and second parts of the statement, he suddenly tore the third statement sheet where he had allegedly written that he used the money to settle his personal debts and also made references to Jonathan into pieces.

“In great shock and surprise, I stood up and asked him why he did what he just did and he said he did that because he was no longer willing to give the information in the sheet.

“I persuaded him to handover the torn sheet and brought one plain paper before him and he poured the pieces on the plain sheet. My other colleagues were there looking at us in surprise as well.

“He furthered tore them into pieces, saying only in the movies would this be recovered.