Convicted pension thief, John Yusufu, who is standing trial on an alleged false declaration of assets, on Monday, collapsed while his trial was in progress.
Yusuf is standing trial for not disclosing his interest in a N250 million fixed deposit which was fixed in the name of a company known as SY-A Global Services Limited, incorporated by him and solely owned by him and members of his immediate family at Zenith Bank International Plc.
He was also alleged to have a N10 million fixed deposit in an account his company maintains at First Bank of Nigeria Plc and another N29 million fixed through one Danjuma Mele, who is also scheduled to testify as a witness in the trial.
Yusufu?s lawyer, Mr Maiyaki, moved an application seeking bail; adding that the offence for which his client is standing trial is ordinarily bailable and that the court is empowered by the law to exercise discretion in granting bail to an accused person.
However, the application was opposed by counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Rotimi Jacob, who asked the court to consider the recent conviction of the accused on the charge of criminal breach of trust which ?clearly shows that Yusufu?s antecedent does not encourage the court to exercise its discretion in his favour?.
Jacob also pointed out that Yusufu did not deny his previous conviction on criminal breach of trust in the affidavit he filed in support of his application for bail and urged the court to consider the gravity of his present offence,
The court, after listening to both lawyers, decided that Yusufu?s trial should go on while a date should be fixed for ruling on his bail application. On that note, the EFCC lawyer called their first witness, a civil servant working with the anti graft agency under Asset Forfeiture and Tax Investigation Unit, Mustapha Sani.
As Sani commenced his testimony, Yusufu, who had been standing in the dock, started shaking violently. His lawyer pleaded with the court to allow the accused person to sit down, a request that was promptly granted by the court but as the accused made to sit down on the seat inside the dock, he slumped forward across the wooden dock. His lawyer and prison officials who had brought him to court from Kuje prison rushed to him and assisted him to sit on the seat.
At this juncture, the court indicated that the accused is not fit to continue with the trial and adjourned for ruling on the bail application for March 11.
