Justice Halimat Salman of the Kwara State High Court on Monday refused the application for a ballistic report to ascertain cause of injuries of Offa Robbery Suspects, saying University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, UITH, had no right to provide ballistic report for the court.
She added that medical report had confirmed that the injuries were not the product of gunshot and no instrument could tell the date the suspects sustained the injuries.
The Defence Counsel, Mathias Emeribe, had stated that a ballistic expert would be required to determine the metabolic objects showed in the report and the date the injuries occurred.
He submitted that the court should order the Chief Medical Director of UITH to provide the ballistic report.
But the prosecution counsel, Yusuf Beki, objected to the application made by the defence counsel, saying it would waste the time of the court.
Beki, who held brief for Wahab Egbewole, said that a ballistic report was required where there was dispute to determine the type of gun used.
He said that many lives were lost in the robbery attack and justice must be done because the society was watching.
Beki urged the court to throw out the application and move on with the case.
A medical expert, Dr Olaleye Paul, had told the court that the injuries on the legs of three accused persons arraigned in the Offa Bank robbery case were caused by trauma.
Paul, who is in charge of the medical welfare of inmates at Kwara State Prison Command, also said during cross-examination that the instrument used in the hospital could not tell the date that the injuries occurred.
He said that the fracture seen on an X-ray film showed that the fracture was there in the past and was caused by a metabolic object.
“I am satisfied with the medical examination report presented to the court despite not being the author. The author followed due process which has provided answers to the needs of the court. I have informed the court that the date cannot be told by our instrument and the injuries were caused by trauma,” the expert said.
The five accused persons standing trial in connection with the April 5, 2018 Offa robbery attack are Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibikunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salaudeen Azeez and Niyi Ogundiran.
Those injured on the legs were the first, second and third accused persons. (NAN)
