Lagos State Attorney-General and Justice Commissioner Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN) has advised the courts to immediately free 253 persons arrested by the police in connection with the #EndSARS protests in the state and has further approved the prosecution of 92 others, the report says.
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In a statement, Onigbanjo said the state’s Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) had assessed the temporary charges filed against them by the police and found no prima facie evidence that they committed any crime. According to a statement by the Director of Public Affairs in the Ministry of Justice, Kayode Oyekanmi, the Attorney-General explained that the police forwarded 40 case files on 361 persons arrested in connection with the #EndSARS protests to the DPP for Legal Advice between November 4 and 5, 2020.
“Legal advice has been issued in respect of all the 40 case files received, and as at November 6, 2020, the directorate has been able to despatch Legal Advice in respect of 81 persons that are being charged to the various courts, while others will be despatched to court on Monday, November 9, 2020.
“Of the 361 persons, the Director of Public Prosecutions shall be prosecuting 92 persons for different offences, ranging from arson, stealing, breaking into buildings, armed robbery and murder, while the office has advised that 253 persons be released forthwith for non-disclosure of a prima facie case.
“In the meantime, two case files in respect of 16 persons have been advised for further investigation by the Police,” Onigbanjo said.
Also, activists, under the aegis of the Centre for Liberty (CL), yesterday called for the unconditional release of all #EndSARS protesters arrested across the country.
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command, last Friday, arrested and arraigned six protesters who had assembled at the gate of the National Assembly Complex to resume the suspended #EndSARS protest.
The protesters, Oluwatoyin Adeniji, Yashidu Bashiru, Abdulsalam Zuberu, Kabiru Kazali, Paul Akinwumi and Davo Chomo, who were arraigned at the Wuse District Magistrates’ Court on a five-count charge, pleaded not guilty to the offences.
Prosecutor John Ijegbami said they were guilty of criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly, inciting the public, public disturbances and public nuisance. Defence counsel Tope Akinyode urged the court to grant the protesters bail, but it rejected the application. Presiding Magistrate Abdulrazak Eneye said the bail application should be written and submitted to the court within the time allowed by the law. Eneye said he rejected the defence counsel’s oral application because it was not properly premised on the extant law. While adjourning the matter till January 25, 2021, the magistrate ordered that the protesters be remanded in the Correctional Centre.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
