The Lagos State directorate of public prosecution says it will not charge the chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Lagos Island Branch B, Azeez Adekunle Lawal, aka Kunle Poly, and another with murder.
This was revealed on Monday at the resumed hearing presided by Chief Magistrate Linda Balogun sitting in Yaba.
The Chief Magistrate’s Court also granted Kunle Poly and his co-defendant, Adekanbi Wahab, bail in the sum of one million Naira.
Chief Magistrate Balogun said that the State government, through the Office of the DPP advised that a prima facie case had not been established against the defendants.
They will now be tried for being an accessory after the fact to murder while Mr Wahab will face trial for alleged membership of an unlawful society.
Before transferring the case to the high court, She added that the DPP advised that three other defendants, whose names were mentioned in the advice though they were charged separately, should be discharged.
Following an application by counsel to both defendants, Adeshina Ogunlana, who told the court that the defendants had been in custody for 78 days, the chief magistrate granted each of them one million Naira bail.
The defendants were also ordered to produce two sureties each, one of whom must be a traditional ruler or religious leader, resident within the court’s jurisdiction.
She held that a self-employed person would not stand as the surety, adding that any civil servant wishing to stand as the surety must get a letter from the Head of Service of Lagos State.
Further hearing is fixed for May 11 for a report on the filing of the case at a high court.
The defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit murder, murder, and membership in an unlawful society.
They were remanded for an initial period of 30 days on Jan. 27 and another 30 days on Feb. 28.
The court earlier remanded the defendants at the Police Zonal Monitoring Unit, Zone 2 Headquarters, Onikan, and subsequently, at the Nigeria Custodial Centre in Ikoyi.
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