The Federal High Court in Lagos resumed the trial of music artist Azeez Fashola, also known as Naira Marley, on Tuesday.
He faces 11 accusations including conspiracy, possession of counterfeit cards, and fraud.
Anosike Augustine, a mobile forensic expert with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, was called as a second prosecution witness (EFCC).
The witness completed his statement, which he had begun in 2020, immediately before the COVID-19 lockdown, and was led in evidence by the prosecutor, Rotimi Oyedepo.
Anosike described how the defendant’s iPhone had roughly 2,410 brief texts that were analyzed. He also claimed that the defendant’s iPhone had a variety of credit card numbers.
He claims that the Apple iPhone is a smart device capable of storing a vast amount of data, and that the sim card is what identifies users of apps like WhatsApp.
The witness noticed 977 SMS and 1,433 chat communications while examining Naira Marley’s iPhone, as well as seven pending status update messages, according to the witness.
The prosecutor informed the court after his evidence that all of the analyzed texts were contained on a Compact Disc (CD), but that the prosecution had only printed out the portions that were relevant to its case.
The prosecutor then requested the court if he may bring a projector into court to play the CD in order to completely prove the prosecution’s cyber fraud case and discharge the burden of proof imposed on the prosecution and against the defendant.
The defense counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria Olalekan Ojo, raised no objections to the request, which was granted by the court.
The CD will be played at the adjourned trial which will be held today, October 27.
