20-year-old Man Remanded In Kirikiri Prison Over Illegal Firearms Possession

An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court judge, Magistrate M. Ayinde, passed judgment on the 20-year-old on Friday, May 5, 2023, Naija News reports.

Johnson, a resident at No 17 Okosun St., Ajangbadi, Ojo, Lagos State, faces a two-count charge of conspiracy and unlawful firearm possession.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Insp Segun Oke, told the Magistrate court that Johnson committed the offences labelled against him on April 13 at Ajegunle, Lagos State.

Oke said that a team of policemen on patrol arrested the defendant with a locally-made double-barrel gun and two live cartridges.

The prosecutor further noted that the defendant could not explain how he got them satisfactorily. Oke maintained that Johnson’s offences contravened Sections 4 and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos state, 2015.

Despite Johnson’s plea, the Magistrate ordered that the case file be duplicated and sent to the state Director of Public Prosecutions for advice.

Ayinde adjourned the case until May 23 for mention and ordered that the defendant be remanded pending the next hearing of the case.

Meanwhile, Lagos High Court sitting at the Tafawa Balewa Square has admitted into evidence two handwritten statements made by the prime suspect Chidinma Ojukwu in the alleged murder of former Super TV chief executive officer, Usifo Ataga.

Justice Yetunde Adesanya, on Thursday, said the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt the voluntariness of the defendant’s statements.

She said this while ruling on the trial within the trial where the defendant objected to the admissibility of her statements.

Ms Ojukwu, through her counsel Onwuka Egwu, alleged that her statements were not voluntarily made. The defendant alleged that she was slapped and forced to sign statements not voluntarily made by her.

The former undergraduate of the University of Lagos is standing trial alongside Adedapo Quadri and her sister Chioma Egbuchu for the alleged murder of Ataga, Tracknews reports.

Ruling on Thursday, Justice Adesanya said: “The videos tendered in court did not display any intimidation towards the defendant while she was writing her statements.

“The voice of the investigating police officer (IPO) was clear and audible. It did not show any form of intimidation.”

The judge, therefore, admitted the two statements in evidence and marked them as exhibits.

Justice Adesanya adjourned the case until May 30 for the continuation of the trial.