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Justice Umaru Fadawu of the Borno State High Court, Maiduguri, has ordered Aisha Alkali Wakil alias “Mama Boko Haram” to testify orally in her defence rather than through writing.
It will be recalled that the EFCC closed its case against Wakil and her co-defendants on February 11, 2021, while the matter was adjourned to March 1, 2021 for the defendants to open their defense.
However, rather than open their defense on March 1, 2021, Wakil filed an application seeking the leave of the Court to enter her defence in writing, citing an inability to speak which she premised on ill-health.
The prosecuting counsel, Fatsuma Mohammed had objected and prayed the Court to refuse the application on the grounds that, the first defendant placed no material fact before the court to show that she could not speak, and that she pleaded ‘not guilty’ orally, when she was arraigned on March 5, 2020.