Court frees murder suspect for lack of sufficient evidence

The suspected killer of a 55-year-old woman, Nwakpa Ego, has been released following the advice of the Director of Public Prosecution that there is insufficient evidence against him.

 The suspect, Yusuf Solanke, 27, was said to have inflicted injuries on the deceased by “hitting her with fist blows on the nose” during a fight on December 30, 2012.

Ego was said to have died 10 days later, which prompted the police to arraign Solanke for murder.

 The DPP’s advice, which was signed by Mrs. Olabisi Ogungbesan of the Lagos State Judiciary, was released after Solanke had been kept in detention for four months.

 The report absolved the accused of any wrongdoings.

 It said, “After a careful examination of the case file, the office is of the view that the available facts contained therein cannot sustain any criminal charge against the suspect Yusuf Solanke.

“What the facts reveal is a free -for-all between the suspect on the one hand and the deceased and her relatives on the other.

 “In the ensuing fracas, there is no clearly defined indication as to who struck who and who injured who with any degree of certainty.”

 The report further adduced to the fact that Ego died 10 days after the fight, and the medical report indicated she died from “massive intracerebral haemorrhage.”

 It added that there was no independent eyewitness account of what happened and the court could not rely on the accounts of family members.

It read,  “No doubt, this cannot be convincingly attributed to any act on the part of the suspect, Yusuf Sholanke

 “Proof in a criminal case is always proved beyond any reasonable doubt. Clearly, there are doubts raised in the case at hand. Suspicion no matter how grave cannot take the place of legal proof.”

 Ogungbesan recommended that Sholanke should be released from detention, while the murder charge against him be dropped.

 The magistrate, Mrs. S.K Matepo, ruled that the case be struck out for lack of sufficient evidence.

The Punch