The police in Abuja has disclosed that the command will file criminal charges against embattled Senator, Elisha Abbo for assaulting a nursing woman at an adult toy shop in Abuja.
Abbo, who represents Adamawa North in the Senate, was seen in a viral video slapping the woman following a brief argument.
The viral video footage had generated outrage among Nigerians with activists marching to the Force Headquarters and the National Assembly to demand Abbo’s prosecution for assault.
The Senate had also on Wednesday condemned the assault, setting up a committee to probe the video.
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Speaking on the case, a police source disclosed that “Our preliminary investigation has indicted the senator and the plan was to arraign him on Friday for assault but the detectives were not able to obtain the original video from the CCTV which we needed to vet to ensure that it had not been manipulated. So, the arraignment would hold this week.”
Another source explained that the police did not want to rush the arraignment to avoid mistakes or legal loopholes that could be exploited by Abbo’s lawyer.
He stated that the force decided to delay the arraignment while ensuring a diligent investigation to avoid costly mistakes during the prosecution of the lawmaker.
He added, “We don’t want to sacrifice diligent investigation on the altar of speed. Rather, we want to strike a balance between the need to charge him to court timeously and the need to do the right thing.
“When you are investigating a case involving a high calibre person, you have to be sure you have a watertight case, because the accused would hire the best lawyers who could exploit every technicality and loophole to get their client off the hook.”
While the victim has been questioned, the police haven’t spoken with the shop owner who would serve as the key prosecution witness during Abbo’s trial.
On whether Abbo would be arraigned this week, Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, said investigations into the case had not been completed.
“The right thing would be done as the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has assured Nigerians that justice will be served,” he added.
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