Facts
The Respondent and two other persons were arraigned before the Federal High Court on a two-count Charge of conspiracy and failure to declare the sum of One hundred and two thousand, eight hundred and eighty-five United State of America Dollars ($102,885) to the officers and men of the Nigeria Customs Service at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, contrary to Sections 2(3) 8(5) and 18 of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended) by Act No. 1 of 2012.
In the course of the trial, the Appellant sought to tender the extra-judicial statements of the Respondent through the prosecution witness; however, counsel for the Respondent vehemently objected to the tendering of the statements on the ground that the purported extra-judicial statements were made involuntarily and without compliance with Sections 15(4) and 17(2) of Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015. A trial-within-trial was conducted to ascertain the voluntariness of the said statements. The trial court delivered its ruling thereon, deciding that there was no evidence of torture, force, or coercion as alleged by the Respondent. The court held further that the statements sought to be tendered were relevant and voluntarily made in line with the law and accordingly admitted and marked the statements as exhibits.
Dissatisfied with the decision of the trial court, the Respondent filed an appeal to the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal allowed the appeal of the Respondent and set aside the ruling of the trial court. The statements were rejected in evidence and marked accordingly. The Court of Appeal also directed that the case file be remitted to the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court for assignment to another Judge other than the judge for hearing and determination.
