An Enugu High Court on Monday discharged one Godwin Okechukwu who was charged with armed robbery since September 2011 for the inability of the prosecution to prove its case.

Justice Afam Nwobodo said that the accused person was arrested by the police on Ogui Road in Enugu for allegedly robbing a female student of her Nokia mobile handset.

He said that the prosecution counsel failed to prove his case with sufficient evidence.

“Evidence must contain some essential ingredients and the prosecution counsel failed to establish if there was a robbery at the scene where the accused was arrested. The prosecution should also prove if arm was used and if the accused participated in the said operation.

“The prosecution will not only rely on the confessional statement from the accused to prove his case,” he said.

Nwobodo said that the victim did not testify or give evidence throughout the proceedings and no reason was given for her absence.

“It would have been a different case if the victim gave evidence in court that the accused was the one that robbed her at gun point or say that the Nokia phone recovered was her own,” Nwobodo said.

He said the gun allegedly used for the operation was recovered from the scene a day after the accused was arrested, adding that he did not tender any item recovered from him as evidence before the court.

Nwobodo held that cases of armed robbery had not been proved before the court and discharged the accused.