A man, Sikiru Tijani, was on Tuesday arraigned before Magistrate Adeola Olatunbosun of the Yaba Magistrates’ Court, Lagos State for allegedly assaulting people and forcefully taking possession of a piece of land belonging to the Thomas Olufuwa family in the Idiapaye area of the state.
The 59-year-old was arraigned on five counts of assault, forcible entry and wilful property damage.
According to the police prosecutor, Rita Momoh, the offences committed contravene Section 170(1)(b) and are punishable under Sections 412, 53, 52, 172, 3and 50 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
The charge read in part, “That you, Sikiru Tijani, and others now at large, sometime in 2018 at Idiapaye, Lagos State, within the magisterial district of this court, while armed with cutlasses, did assault Baale Thomas and his family members by threatening to inflict machete cuts on them and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 170(1)(b) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 and punishable under Section 172 of the same Law.
“That you, Sikiru Tijani, and others now at large, sometime in 2018 at Idiapaye, Lagos State, within the magisterial district of this court, did willfully and unlawfully damage economic trees belonging to the Olufuwa Royal Family and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 52 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.”
The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty.
The magistrate granted him bail in the sum of N1m with three sureties in like sum.
Olatunbosun adjourned the case till August 28, 2023, for mention. (Punch)
