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A forensic analyst, Babagana Musa Mingali, from the Office of the National Security Adviser, testified on Thursday before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja, stating that the mobile phone belonging to the suspended Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Calabar, Prof. Cyril Ndifon, was empty during his forensic analysis.
Babagana, a Chief Superintendent of Police and the second defense witness (DW2) was subpoenaed to give evidence in the case brought against Prof. Ndifon by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
Ndifon and his lawyer, Samuel Anyanwu, are facing a four-count charge on alleged sexual harassment, cybercrime, and an attempt to pervert the course of justice.
The ICPC alleged that Ndifon, while serving as Dean, asked a female Diploma student, identified as TKJ, to send him pornographic and obscene images through WhatsApp.
Additionally, Anyanwu was accused of threatening a prosecution witness during the pendency of the case.
Both defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.
During Friday’s proceedings, Babagana testified under the lead of defense counsel, Joe Agi (SAN). He explained that he joined the Nigerian Police Force in 2010 and has been posted to the NSA’s office since 2017.
He confirmed receiving a letter from the court, dated July 5, 2024, requesting a forensic analysis of two mobile phones belonging to Ndifon and Anyanwu. Babagana stated that his analysis was completed on August 8, 2024, and a report was submitted to the court.
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Justice Omotosho admitted the letter and the forensic report as exhibits.
Babagana testified that his team used professional tools, including the Universal Forensic Extraction Device, Touch Tool, and other equipment, but found no relevant information on the phones.
“My lord, we used the Universal Forensic Extraction Device, Touch Tool, and some cables, including external storage devices, to extract data,” he stated.
When questioned about the presence of naked photographs, email trails, voice recordings, text messages, or conversations, Babagana said, “I did not find any.”
He attributed the lack of relevant data from January 2021 to January 2024 to the WhatsApp applications being outdated, suggesting the need to update the app for a more comprehensive analysis.
Meanwhile, during cross-examination by ICPC counsel Osuobeni Akponimisingha, Babagana confirmed his five years of experience in forensic analysis. He maintained that ICPC staff had been posted to the NSA lab but admitted he had no posting letters to substantiate his claim.
Babagana acknowledged that the same forensic tools used by his office were employed by ICPC to generate Exhibit H, containing images from the mobile phone. He conceded that updating the WhatsApp applications could potentially retrieve additional data.
Following Babagana’s testimony and cross-examination, Justice Omotosho adjourned the case until April 3, 2025, for the continuation of the defense.
