Admin l Wednesday, August 23, 2017
IKEJA, Lagos, Nigeria – The deposed Baale of Shangisha, Chief Mutiu Micheal Ogundare on Wednesday pleaded with an Ikeja High Court for leniency, asking the judge to whittle down his bail conditions.
The Baale has been in prison custody with his wife, Abolanle Ogundare and one Mohammed Opeyemi Babatunde pending perfection of their bail condition. They were charged with faking kidnap and related crime.
Magistrate Akanni of an Ogba magistrate court had granted bail to each of the defendants, in the sum of N2 million and two sureties in like sum. The sureties must include a traditional ruler, person with registered property in Lagos, must be a tax payer and a grade level 17 officer in the state public service.
But the Baale has in the past 34 days failed to perfect his bail and that of his wife and brother. The defendants had pleaded not guilty to the offences.
But today, Ogundare through his counsel, H.A Obire asked the court to vary the bail conditions as his clients could not meet up with them.
“What we are asking for is that the court should please reduce the conditions of the bail. This situation is peculiar because a man and his wife are both incarcerated. They have young children who are dependent on them. They have children of nursery, primary and secondary ages who are solely dependent on them. They have nobody taking care if them.
“The Lagos State counsel was served with this application on the 16th of August and sadly up till now, they are yet to respond,” Obire lamented.
However responding, the Lagos State Counsel, Akin George told the court that he was just served hearing notice in the matter, and that he was yet to respond.
“I was reliably informed that this same application was brought before Justice Sedoten Ogunsanya but it was dismissed for lacking in merit. This is a serious case of someone faking his own kidnap and I believe for him to be remanded in custody, it is for his own protection,” George said. George however asked the court for time to respond to the application.
The vacation judge, Justice Ganiyu Safari consequently adjourned the matter till August 25 to rule on the application.
