Two
security men- Omokunmi Adeniran (36), and Femi Israel (41), who were
guarding Igando New Town, Lagos State, have been accused of killing one
of the landlords who employed them.
The police said the men had caught a
suspected robber around midnight and were dragging him along the street
when some of the landlords came out to intervene.
The deceased, 37-year-old Jelili
Olawoyin, was said to have appealed to Adeniran and Israel to release
the suspect while the duo was hitting him with a cutlass.
In the heat of the moment, Adeniran was
said to have mistakenly pulled the trigger of his locally-made pistol,
which hit Olawoyin.
He died on the spot.
The police arraigned the two men on Wednesday before an Ebute Meta Magistrate’s court on two counts of murder.
The police prosecutor, Inspector George
Nwosu said the offence was punishable under sections 231 and 221 of the
Criminal Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2011.
Nwosu applied for the remand of the
defendants in prison custody pending legal advice from the Directorate
of Public Prosecution.
However, the defence counsel, Spurgeon
Ataene, in his application against the remand, argued that the court had
the power to conduct a preliminary enquiry into the incident.
“The court is empowered under Section
264(9) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Lagos State,
2011, to find out if the grounds of remand brought by the police are
genuine and if there is a prima facie link connecting the death with the defendants,” he said.
The magistrate, Tunbosun Abolarinwa,
called the Investigating Police Officer, Sergeant Moses Godgift, to give
the facts of the case to enable the court decide whether or not to
remand the accused.
Godgift, who is attached to the State
Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba, said, “This case was initially
reported at the Igando Police station, before it was transferred to the
Homicide Department of the SCID.
“Investigations revealed that the two
defendants are security men within the Igando New Town area. On March 3,
2014, at about 4.30am, they arrested a suspect called Baba Akodo. They
accosted him and in the process of interrogating him, the first
defendant (Adeniran), who was holding a locally-made gun with his left
hand, used his right hand to drag him.
“While the said Baba refused to follow
them, the second defendant used a cutlass to beat him up. This created a
noise and neighbours and landlords came out.
“The landlords who employed them said
they should stop beating the man, but they refused. The first
defendant’s locally-made gun exploded and the bullet hit the deceased.”
However, a police prosecutor, DSP Etim
Nkankuk, said the security men wanted to gun down the suspected robber,
but mistakenly shot the late Olawoyin, who was holding him.
The magistrate, however, faulted Nkankuk’s submission since he was not the one that investigated the case.
Abolarinwa said the case did not qualify
for murder, but manslaughter, as the men couldn’t have wanted to kill
one of their employers.
In his ruling, he said, “Having heard
from the IPO, it is difficult for this honourable court to believe that
this case qualifies for murder. It is well put by the IPO that the gun
exploded, meaning it was not their intention to kill anybody. It will
therefore be wrong and not according to the law to charge them for
murder. The facts that the court extracted from the statements of the
police are not enough to sustain a murder charge. Rather, it can be seen
as one of those incidents of accidental discharges which fall under
Section 264(4) of the ACJL, 2011.”
The magistrate admitted the defendants to bail in the sum of N500, 000 with two sureties in like sum.
The matter was adjourned till April 29, 2014 for the DPP’s advice.
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