How we found bags of foreign currencies in Justice Ngwuta’s wardrobe – DSS

……..as defendant pleads innocence to amended 13-count charge
By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
ABUJA – The Department of State Service, DSS, yesterday, narrated before the Federal High Court in Abuja, how its operatives discovered bags of foreign currencies inside a wardrobe in the house of Justice Sylvester Ngwuta of the Supreme Court.

The DSS made the disclosure on a day the embattled jurist who is currently on suspension, pleaded not guilty to an amended 13-count criminal charge the Federal Government preferred against him.

The charge involves money laundering, age falsification and alleged illegal possession of multiple international passports by the defendant.

It will be recalled that though Ngwuta was initially docked before the court on a 16-count charge, FG subsequently amended the charge to 11-counts and further re-amended it again yesterday.

At the resumed hearing, an operative of the DSS, Mr. John Utazi, mounted the witness box and gave evidence on how a search operation the agency conducted at Ngwuta’s official residence in Abuja on October 7, 2016, led to recovery of bags containing both local and foreign currencies.

Giving his evidence-in-chief as the PW-5, Utazi, equally disclosed that the DSS also found several documents that included land documents, vehicle papers and statements of bank accounts belonging to the defendant.

The witness told the court that policemen and private security guards assigned to the Supreme Court Quarters, where Ngwuta’s house was located, initially blocked his team from gaining access into the house.

He said that it took the invention of some “superiors” before the DSS search team eventually entered the house and met the defendant in his sitting room downstairs.

Led in evidence by the prosecuting counsel, Mrs. Olufemi Fatunde, the witness said the defendant declined an offer to search all the operatives in the team before the commencement of the operation.

“He was standing in the sitting room on the ground floor when we met him.

“I introduced myself and my team members to him and we showed the defendant our identity cards.

“I also gave him the search warrant to read, after which he asked us if the Chief Justice of Nigeria was aware.

“I answered that I was not aware. Thereafter, I requested the defendant to search me and members of my team.

“He declined and said there was no trouble. However, I asked my team members to search one another in his presence. After, we told the defendant that we were ready to conduct the search.”

According to the witness, his team discovered huge cash sums in some bags kept in the wardrobes in one of the rooms and other cash in foreign currencies in another room.

“He took us upstairs of his residence. There were four rooms and a sitting room upstairs. The four rooms included the defendant’s study.

“He took us to the first bedroom. We started searching while he sat on a seat. There were two wardrobes in the room. One was by a closet and the other was facing the closet. As we opened the one facing the closet, there were bags. We opened the bags and asked the defendant to see the content.

“The content was money. The second wardrobe was concealed with a cloth.”

On what was found in the second wardrobe after it was opened,the witness said, “When the wardrobe was opened, we saw a lot of bags and they were filled with foreign currencies.”

“He took us to another bedroom. We searched it again and we also discovered money. After the second bedroom, he took us to his study.

“In the study room, we recovered bank statements, building plans, land documents, documents relating to the defendants salary and some vehicle papers.”

The witness told the court that the fourth room upstairs and other parts of the house were searched but nothing incriminating was found in them.

“We brought down the items recovered to the sitting room downstairs where we counted the money.

“We documented everything on the back of the search warrant. The documentation was done in his presence. I endorsed the documented items recovered and also gave it to him to see.

“After seeing it, he read through and signed on it. Thereafter, I assembled all items recovered and told the defendant to search us just like we did when we came in.

“The defendant declined to search us but we searched ourselves in the presence of the defendant.

“We then requested the defendant to follow us and he did followed us.”

Meanwhile, the search warrant dated October 5, 2016, which was issued by an Abuja Chief Magistrate Court was tendered and admitted into evidence by trial Justice John Tsoho.

The case was later adjourned till Wednesday to enable the defence counsel, Chief Kanu Agabi, SAN, to cross-examine the witness.

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