Binta

Chapter Fourteen

Dedicated to NauwarahAliyuHamzah

Good morning Hon. Ahmed Aliyu. I greeted him with a smile which he reciprocated.

"In previous testimonies you stated that you where with the deceased a night before his death yes or no?"

"Yes" he nods.

"You also testified that you introduced a drug to the deceased to help cool off his stress and heart problems yes or no?"

"Yes" he nods.

"And going by your record you are not a medical doctor or a cardiologist let alone a science student yes or no?

"Yes" he nods.

"It is also of record that the drug which you administered to the deceased cannot be obtained except and only with prescription by a medical practitioner yes or no?"

"Yes" he answered.

"Excellent Hon." I smirked.

"In your testimonies you also testify that the deceased trusted you with his life, yes or no?

"Yes"

"So he never doubted anything you gave him" I said

"Objection my Lord." Said the prosecutor.

"Overruled! answer the question" the judge said.

"I didn't drug the deceased to death" he said harshly.

"Oh...For the record I never said you did sir," I drawled out slowly.

"Please answer my question sir" my voice was louder

"Yes .but ........ I was only trying to help him" he stammered

"That's exactly what friends do Hon.Ahmed" I said sarcastically.

"Did or didn't the medical practitioner draw your attention to the likely side effect of the drugs?

"He did but..." I cut in

"But you went ahead and did otherwise?" I said in a condescending manner.

"He was in intense pain the night before his death and I was confused" he practically screamed.

"Why didn't you call the hospital or his family doctor?" I asked

"He never liked going to the hospital and he was already addicted to the drug, it was all he needed to cool him down" he said defensively.

"No further questions my Lord" I said and walk back to my seat. I look over at the prosecutor, who was shaking his head looking through his papers perhaps for anything that could help him right now.

"Would the prosecutor like to cross examine the witness?" judge asked.

"Uh...No not at this time my lord" he said with a grimace.

After I was done with Hon Ahmed Mohammed I called the accused, the deceased's wife and house help, to attest to the moral character of the accused(personal chef of the deceased) to paint a picture that the Accused was not capable of murder.

The wife of the deceased testified that the accused and the principal witness (Ahmed Mohammed) had never been in good terms because he was always overly protective of her husband. She testified further that the principal witness and her husband had been having a heated debate on a political position which her husband had refused to step down for Ahmed Mohammed.

"Did the political rivalry affect their relationship?"I asked

"Yes at some point until Ahmed Mohammed finally decided to step down for my husband" she said.