A Lagos State Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court sitting in Ikeja has acquitted and discharged Dauda Salami of alleged defilement and abduction, citing the prosecution's failure to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. Salami was accused of defiling a 12-year-old girl and abducting her in July 2021 in the Bariga area of Lagos. He pleaded not guilty when arraigned on October 14, 2022.
Delivering judgment, Justice Rahman Oshodi held that the prosecution's case collapsed due to the absence of key witnesses, including the alleged victim, her mother and investigating police officers. The judge described the development as a reflection of persistent challenges in securing witness attendance within the Lagos criminal justice system.
Although the prosecution listed nine witnesses, only one witness, a nurse-midwife with the Women at Risk International Foundation, testified despite witness summonses issued by the court. “The prosecution's original nine witnesses never came to court,” Oshodi said, noting that the case exposed weaknesses in existing mechanisms for compelling witness attendance. He stressed that witness testimony remains critical to fair criminal trials, lamenting that individuals who make statements during investigations are often unavailable or unwilling to testify in court.
According to the court, none of the summoned witnesses, including four police officers, appeared during proceedings. One of the officers, Inspector Onyeke Aleihunu, was granted permission to testify virtually but failed to appear. Justice Oshodi observed that the prosecution's sole witness merely interpreted a medical report and had no direct knowledge of the alleged incident. “The prosecutrix was not called. Her mother was not called. No police officer testified,” he said.
The judge further ruled that statements allegedly made by the child and her mother to medical personnel amounted to hearsay because they were neither given under oath nor subjected to cross-examination. “They cannot be received as proof of the truth of their contents,” he held.
