Justice Kayode Ogunmekan of a Lagos High Court has discharged and acquitted a security guard, Abubakar Zibo, who has been in prison custody for 13 years.
Zibo was found not guilty of the murder of his friend, Charles.
Delivering judgment in the case, Justice Ogunmekan held that the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt the allegation of conspiracy and murder leveled against him as required by Section 1 of the Evidence Act, 2011.
The case, which was first started by the Lagos State Coordinator, Legal Aid Council, Mrs. L.Y. Salau, was later handed over to Mrs.. Grace Adenubi.
The judge held that it was trite law that the burden of proof in a criminal case was on the prosecution, adding that where the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt, the defendant must be discharged and acquitted. [myad]
