Adamawa North lawmaker, Senator Elisha Abbo, has won the case of assault instituted against him before a Magistrates’ Court in Zuba, Abuja by the Nigeria Police Force.

This is despite a viral video showing Abbo assaulting a woman, Osimibibra Warmate; and a televised press conference in which the lawmaker apologised to the victim.

According to a copy of the judgment obtained by The PUNCH, the Magistrate, Abdullahi Ilelah, who upheld a no-case submission filed by Abbo, said the police failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the lawmaker assaulted Warmate on May 11, 2019.

The case with suit number CR/010/2019 spanned from July 8, 2019 to June 18, 2020.

The two witnesses that testified against Abbo were Warmate – who was the nominal complainant – and a police officer, ASP Mary Daniel, who investigated the matter.

In his ruling, the magistrate said,

The evidence and exhibits tendered do not disclose a prima facie case of the alleged crime of criminal force and assault against the defendant (Abbo). The prosecution’s case centred on the oral evidence of PW1 (Warmate) and the two discs contained a CCTV footage of the incident and alleged video clip of an apology from the defendant (Abbo).

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.