Babagana Mingali, a forensic analyst told the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court that no nude photos were found in the mobile phones belonging to Cyril Ndifon, the dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Calabar, during analysis.
Mr Babagana, a second defence witness (DW-2), who was subpoenaed by the court to testify in the alleged sexual harassment charge, works at the laboratory of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
The witness spoke before Justice James Omotosho while being led in evidence by the defence lawyer, Joe Agi, on Thursday. The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission is prosecuting Mr Ndifon for sexual harassment.
Mr Ndifon, alongside his lawyer, Samuel Anyanwu, is charged with a four-count charge bordering on alleged sexual harassment, cybercrime, and attempt to pervert the course of justice.
Upon resumed trial on Thursday, Mr Babagana told the court that he joined the Nigeria Police Force in 2010 and was posted to ONSA in 2017. He said he received a letter from the court on July 5, 2024, which came with two mobile phones, ordering a forensic analysis of the two phones belonging to Mr Ndifon and his co-defendant, Mr Anyanwu.
The witness said he analysed the mobile phones and wrote a report. He said the report was done on August 8, 2024, and was presented to the court.
Justice Omotosho admitted the letter and the report as exhibits in the case after Mr Agi tendered them. Mr Babagana told the court that his office used highly professional tools to extract documents from the phone but could not.
“My lord, we used the universal forensic extraction device, a touch tool, and some accompanied Cable 2070 and Cable 100, including some external storage devices in trying to extract the data,” he explained.
When asked if he saw any nude photographs, email trails, voice recordings, text messages or conversations on the phones, Mr Babagana said, “I did not find any.”
The analyst restated that no relevant information was found in the two phones between January 2021 and January 2024, as the WhatsApp application on the phones was outdated.
According to him, it is necessary to return them to the owners to update them to achieve the desired result. He told the court that officials from other agencies, including the ICPC, are also being posted to the NSA lab.
During cross-examination by ICPC’s counsel, Osuobeni Akponimisingha, the witness said he had actively practised forensic analysis for about five years.
He insisted that ICPC staff also work in the laboratory, though he could not substantiate the claim with any evidence. He admitted that the police, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the ICPC had forensic labs.
He admitted that the ICPC also used the same device (touch tool) used by his office in generating the exhibit (Exhibit H), which were the images from the mobile phone belonging to the professor.
The witness also admitted that it is possible to find relevant information on the phones if WhatsApp is updated.
The judge adjourned the matter until April 3 for continuation of defence.
(NAN)