Culled from PunchNg
Two women, Awolere Funke (45) and
Omotayo Oyekunle (31), and 33-year-old Christopher Nwosu, have been
arraigned before an Ebute Meta Magistrate’s Court for allegedly killing
their landlord’s son, Tolulope Olajuwape.
The police said the three tenants were part of a mob that killed Olajuwape at Fasanya Street, Mile 12 area of Lagos State.
PUNCH Metro had reported on
April 21, 2014 that the deceased was lynched after he returned from
Guinea Bissau where he had stayed for over 25 years and lost contact
with his family members in Nigeria.
He had reportedly visited his father’s house on Fasanya Street, where he met the house in a state of disrepair.
He was said to have threatened to evict some of the tenants.
A tenant mistook him for a kidnapper and raised the alarm which led to his lynching.
The police prosecutor, Inspector Asu
Feddy said the offence was punishable under sections 221 and 324 of the
Criminal Code, Cap E17, Vol. 11, Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2011.
Feddy added, “We will also be applying
for the remand of the three defendants in prison for the first 30 days
permitted by law, pending the release of the legal advice from the
Directorate of Public Prosecutions.”
The defence counsel – Spurgeon Ataene and T.D. Ajao – however, objected to the remand application.
Ataene prayed the court to conduct a preliminary investigation into the matter.
The magistrate, E.O. Ogunkanmi, called the Investigating Police Officer to tell the court the outcome of police investigations.
The IPO said, “On April 10, 2014 at 3,
Fasanya Street, the deceased, who had left Nigeria for the past 25
years, went to his father’s house.
“He met the defendants and threatened to
evict them. They told him that they didn’t know him and they had been
paying their rent to the developer.
“He left them, but as he was passing
through the passageway, he met one of the defendants and was trying to
find out who she was.
“Because of the way he looked – he was
wearing dreadlocks – she shouted, ‘E gba mi o (Somebody rescue me)’. The
people on the street got him and dragged him around four different
streets and beat him to death.”
Harping on the statements of the IPO,
the defence counsel told the court that the defendants had nothing to do
with the offence and only acted out of fright.
Ataene said, “As stated by the IPO, it
was people on the street that killed him. My clients couldn’t have been
part of this. They were in their homes. They ought to have been released
since the police made this discovery, whereas, they have been in
detention for more than a month.
“The deceased’s family has also
compelled them to be part of the burial and even made them to pay
heavily; they had to contribute huge sum of money. That is why they are
no longer interested and are not in court.”
The defence counsel asked the court to
exercise its discretion as contained in Section 264 (9) of the
Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2011, to
grant the defendants bail pending the release of the DPP’s legal
advice.
The magistrate in his ruling said the
court did not have the power to grant bail in a murder case, and that
the issue was to be decided by the DPP.
Ogunkanmi added, “This court does not
have enough personnel, but the DPP has. It is hereby ordered that the
three defendants be remanded in prison pending the legal advice.”
The matter was adjourned till June 23, 2014.