Lawyer petitions Prisons Services for frustrating Court Proceedings

A legal practitioner, Mr. Femi Aribisala, has accused the Ondo State Command of the Nigerian Prisons Service of frustrating a court process by refusing to release some suspects to the police for investigation, despite a court order.

A Magistrate Court sitting in Akure, the Ondo State capital, had ordered the NPS to release the suspects to the police for re-investigation at the last sitting of the court over a case.

The court order was sequel to the application made by the Police Prosecutor, Mr. Martins Olowofeso, who requested the court to release the suspects that were remanded in prison custody to the police for re-investigation.

The 16 suspects were facing trial at the court for alleged assassination of a United States of America-based businessman, Mr. Banji Adafin, at his residence in Akure some months ago.

The suspects were arraigned on five counts of conspiracy to commit felony, unlawful possession of firearms,  armed robbery and murder, and the court ordered that five of the accused should be released for re-investigation.

According to Aribisala’s petition, one of the accused, Ayomiposi Oluwatoyin, had confessed to the crime and accused the wife of the deceased of sending them to assassinate her husband.

He said the confession of Oluwatoyin prompted the family of the deceased to approach the police to re-investigate the case to ascertain the culpability or otherwise of the wife in the assassination of the husband.

In the petition, titled, ‘Protest letter in respect of the flagrant and intentional disobedience to the order of the court dated September 7,’ the lawyer accused the Ondo State Command of the Nigerian Prisons Service of refusing to release the suspects to the police despite the ruling of the court.

The petition read, “It is of utmost necessity that the defendants be recalled from your custody so that the matter can be reopened for proper investigation to bring all the culprits to justice.

“We humbly submit that one of the roles of the Comptroller-General of Prisons is to execute the orders issued by the judiciary. However, the acts of the Comptroller of Prisons constitute a flagrant disregard to the order of the honourable court.

“It is succinctly clear that for justice to be achieved in this matter, an investigation into the same has to be reopened for all facts to be properly considered as a whole.”