Drama in court as witness falls sick while testifying in Yahaya Bello nephew’s trial for alleged N10bn fraud

A mild drama played out at the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday when Mr. Rabiu Tafada, the prosecution witness in the ongoing trial of Ali Bello, nephew of former Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, suddenly fell sick during the proceeding.

Bello, who is now the Chief of Staff to the new Kogi State Governor, Ahmed Ododo, was arraigned alongside one Dauda Suleiman on a 10-count charge of fraud and money laundering by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The commission alleged that the defendants conspired with one Abdulsalami Hudu to withdraw N10.2 billion from the Kogi State treasury for personal use.

Tafada, the third prosecution witness in the case, was led in evidence by the prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN).

The witness, who spoke through a court interpreter, said he was not feeling well and was given some water to take.

Before he took ill, Tafada told the court that he was a Bureau De Change (BDC) operator and that his company’s name was Rabiu Tafada Global Limited.

The witness also revealed that he was familiar with the defendants but could not recall details of his transaction with them.

The prosecutor tendered some documents in evidence through the witness.

The documents comprised a hardcover notebook with some papers in it and another notebook.

When asked to confirm what was written in the books the witness said that he could not do so because he was not the person who recorded the contents of the book.

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