Police Indict MTN Over Suppression Of Evidence In Salami Case

A FRESH vista was opened Tuesday in the controversy dogging suspended President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Isa Salami, over alleged communication with some leaders of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which allegedly led to his compromising some election matters.

The police Tuesday indicted the telecommunications giant for suppressing crucial evidence in the matter.

The indictment was contained in a copy of the report of police investigations into allegations of manipulation of the call data records relating to some phone lines allegedly belonging to Justice Salami and some ACN leaders.

Dated February 8, 2013 and titled “Police Investigation Report on A Case of Conspiracy, Forgery and Perversion of the course of Justice by MTN Nigeria Ltd,” the copy of the report signed by a Commissioner of Police, Ali Amodu, said that the police found that MTN failed to release some of the call data which would have helped to ascertain the discussion between Salami and the said politicians.

The police report agreed with Olagunsoye Oyinlola, whose petition to the Minister of Police Affairs alleged that the telecoms’ firm deliberately withheld components of the call data records of Justice Ayo Salami, Alhaji Tunji Ijaiya, Lai Mohammed and several other ACN chieftains to frustrate investigation.

Consequently, it recommended that “MTN Nigeria should be prosecuted for an attempt to suppress evidence in this case as provided by Section 167 ( of the Evidence Act.”

In part, the police report reads: “Request was made to MTN to furnish the particulars of the following subscriber numbers and the company responded thus: 08034004887 belongs to Justice Isa Ayo Salami; 08034240000 belongs to Bola Ahmed Tinubu (registered incidentally in the name of MTN Director, Tunde Folawiyo (Lagos State Governor); 08034010700 belongs to Alhaji Tunji Ijaiya.

“Matthew Okoromi, a Senior Subscriber Fraud Analyst in MTN’s employ, confirmed that the CDRs obtained by Area ‘G’ Command, Ogba, Lagos (which one Rotimi Odusola of MTN repudiated before the National Judicial Council’s Special Investigative Panel) actually emanated from the telecoms’ firm.

“Subscriber No. 08034010700 which belongs to Alhaji Tunji Ijaiya of 8, Aderemi Adeleye Road, GRA, Ilorin, appears to have been used as a link between 08034301111 (Lai Mohammed), 08034240000 and 08034004887 (Justice Isa Ayo Salami of Plot 11, New Bussa Close, Area 3, Garki, Abuja) as there was exchange of calls between Justice Ayo Salami and Alhaji Tunji Ijaiya on one hand and Tunji Ijaiya with the other mentioned subscribers on the other.

“While call logs earlier released to Area ‘G’ Command, Ogba, Lagos, spanned a period of five calendar months, MTN claimed its historical data storage capacity was limited only to three months. The report also highlighted the fact that incoming calls were missing from the call data records forwarded to both the SSS and NSA.”