FELONY: COURT DETAINS SOETAN, PRESIDENT 1004 RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION, 3 OTHERS

IGBOSERE, Lagos, Nigeria – An Igbosere Chief Magistate’s Court, has ordered that the President of 1004 Estate Residents Association, Mr. Tayo Soetan, and three others be remanded in Prison’s custody pending the time they are able to perfect their bail conditions.

Soetan, alongside Bosun Sosanya, 47, and a 41 year-old lawyer, Adebayo Ademiluyi, Friday Alika, 48, and Abubakar Audu, 28, were arraigned before the court on offences bordering on felony, conspiracy, unlawful invasion and conduct likely to breach public peace.

The offences according to the prosecutor Mr. Paul Ogwuba, a Superintendent of Police, are contrary to sections 411, 52, and 166(d)(b) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2015. They pleaded not guilty to all the offences.

The Police in a charge marked G/13/2017, filed before the court on Tuesday, alleged that all the five defendants had sometimes on December 5, 2015, conspired among themselves to commit a a felony by forcibly entering into the office of Managing Director of 1004 Estate Limited, Mr. Samuel Ukpong, and took over the management of the Estate from him, and disrupted the smooth administration of the Estate.

The five defendants and others at large were said to have carried out the act with an intent to cause breakdown of law and order and conduct themselves in a manner likely to cause breach of peace.

Upon their not guilty plea, lawyer, to the first defendant, Kingsley Ajogun, urged the court to admit them to bail on self-recognisance.

“The first defendant was invited by the police for interview before he was brought to court for arraignment. He is a Deputy Managing Director of Halogen Security. I urged the court to admit him bail on self-recognisance”.

In the same vain, lawyer to the second, third, fourth and fifth defendants, Promise Asipo, urged the court to grant all his clients bail on the same self-recognisance.

Asipo told the court that the second defendant a Managing Director of Cashlink Limited, has been honouring Police invitations and that the third defendant is a legal practitioner with the law firm Adebayo Admiluyi and Co.

He said the fourth and fifth defendants are Operation Manager, security operative with Tom Salem Integrated Services Limited, situated at 1004 Estate, Victoria Island, Lagos. He said tha if his client are granted bail on self-recognisance, they will not jump bail.

In response, the prosecutor, Mr. Ogwuba, who was from the Office of Inspector-General of Police (IGP), urged the court to take judicial notice that the matter was a contentious one. And that if the defendants are to be admitted to bail, it should be with the conditions that will ensure their attendance in court.

However, the presiding Chief magistrate, Mr. W. B. Balogun, said he will only grant the third defendant, Adebayo Ademiluyi bail on self-recognisance, because he can easily be apprehended if he jump bail. The court order the lawyer to write letter and attached copy of his Bar certificate, complimentary card and passport photograph.




While other defendants were admitted to bail in the sum of N5 million with two sureties in the like sum. Chief magistrate Balogun, however, ordered that the accused persons be remanded in Prison’s custody pending when they fulfill the bail conditions and adjourned the matter till April 20, for trial.

Recall that the residents of 1004 Estate, under the aegis of Home Owners and Residents Association (HOMA) recently sacked a maintenance committee led by Soetan.