From the evidence of the Defendant, DW1 he narrated to this Court how
his manager informed him that he would be on weekend duty with one Adamu
Faruk on the 1gth of February 2022. The Defendant gave uncontradicted
evidence of how on the 20th of February , 2022 upon resumption of work for the
weekend, he saw that it was Vitalis who resumed for work, rather than Faruk.
From the evidence of the Defendant not contradicted is the fact that he, the
Defendant complained to his Manager about this development, and even
interrogated Vitalis about the fact Adamu had not come and yet the Manager Mrs
Tinusa Adegbile gave the go ahead for Vitalis to work with him, rather than
Adamu Faruk on that day with no explanations from the lvanager.
,
From the Defendant's evidence, it was Vitalis who loaded the cash into the
ATM machine, when the door was opened, and, after that exercise, Vitalis
ordered him out, because, the door had to be locked. Now how much was loaded
by Vitalis into the machine was not disclosed or shown to the Court by the
officials or staff of First Bank of Nigeria Plc. Then from the uncontradicted
evidence, the next day being a Sunday, the 20th of February,2022, he arrived at
work and met Vitalis there. The Defendant again told this court that after loading
the cash, he, the Defendant was ordered by Vitalis to stay outside. Again, how
much Vitalis loaded is not before this Court. This Court is not ready to speculate
on that.
Thereafter, according to the Defendant, later in the day, Vitalis went out, and
promptly disappeared. He stated that he asked the security men on duty about
Vitalis, and, the said security men told him that Vitalis had gone out to get a bag.
As noted by this Court, it is only the security men who would know when Vitalis
left, whether he came back ever, or came back with a bag. These snippets of
evidence can only be given by the vital witnesses, the security staff of the branch
of the said Bank. The sum of Eleven tVillion Naira is not a small sum of money
that can easily be carried away by one man. And, that huge sum of money must
be carried out through the gate of the branch of the bank. The security men who
would have given these vital pieces of information did not make statements to the
police nor did they come to Court to testify either. This speaks of the tardiness of
the police investigation arising from the uncooperative attitude of the staff of the
Bank. The Defendant also narrated to this Court how he refused to pay for half of
the missing money and how he was beaten up physically to make his statement
which according to him was torn twice, until it rhymed to the dictation of one
lnspector Gabriel"
15