A State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has discharged and acquitted Inspector Atausen Luke, who was accused of kidnapping one Thomas Odion in Oyigbo, Rivers State, in May 2023.
Delivering judgment, Justice I. Wodi held that the prosecution failed to establish its case beyond reasonable doubt. The court ruled that there was no eyewitness testimony or material evidence directly linking the police officer to the alleged crime.
Justice Wodi also faulted the prosecution’s reliance on a mobile phone reportedly recovered from the scene, noting that the device was neither presented in court nor seen by the prosecution during the trial.
Inspector Luke, who was said to have been serving as an orderly to the former Chairman of Andoni Local Government Area at the time of the incident, was arrested after he was linked to the crime through the allegedly recovered phone.
The prosecution counsel declined to comment after the ruling.
