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Power
failure on Tuesday stalled the viewing of video recordings of the
Special Investigation Panel (SIP) in the alleged attempted murder of
the publisher of the Guardian Newspaper, Alex Ibru.

The SIP had in 1999
investigated Al-Mustapha Hamza alongside three other persons, James
Danbaba, Jibrin Yakubu and Rabo Lawal, in connection with the attempted
murder.

At the resumed
hearing, the court could not view the video tape because the generating
set powering the court-room had developed a fault, while the Power
Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) had failed to restore light.

Consequently, the
presiding judge, Mufutau Olokooba, was forced to adjourn the case to
Wednesday, March 31, 2010, when the power issue would have been
resolved.

The court had
adjourned at the last sitting, for the prosecution to show the video
recording of the SIP to identify a prosecution witness, Felix Ogbaodu,
an assistant inspector general of police.

The prosecution
team led by Lawal Pedro, had previously said it would be relying on the
tape to identify the police officer as being a member of the SIP at the
time of the initial investigation.

But the defence
counsel, C.K. Nmakwe, Olalekan Ojo, and Chinedu Ikegbule, urged the
court to impress it on the prosecution to furnish them with the master
copy of the tape.

The defence had earlier noted that the tape was edited because there
were portions in the proceedings of the SIP which contained images of
torture and abuse of the defendants.