Hakeem Otiki, the former General Officer Commanding (GOC) 8 division, of the Nigerian Army, Sokoto, on trial for alleged theft of N400m on Tuesday rejected to be tried before a court marshal with Lieutenant General Lamidi Adeosun presiding.
Otiki made his position known through his lawyer, Retired Major Femi Oyebanji, who said General Adeosun presiding over the Court Marshal will prejudice his case and not ensure a fair trial.
Oyebanji further told the court that the defendant (his client) conducted several operations that were directly under the office of Adeosun, operations that will surely come up during the trial.
He also informed the court that his client inherited the soldiers that were under the command of Adeosun when he was in charge of Division 8 and some of those soldiers will be called as witnesses as the case progress.
According to him, this makes Adeosun (The President of the court) an interested party.
He, therefore, asked the President to recuse himself from the trial.
Major-general Otiki is standing trial for allegedly ordering five soldiers to escort the sum of N400 million from Sokoto to Kaduna State to a Very Important Person (VIP).
The said soldiers allegedly absconded with the money.
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