STOP DROPPING CHARMS IN MY COURTROOM, JUDGE WARNS LITIGANTS IN LAGOS

The Lagos State Government filed charges against Atunrase Omolabi, Shittu Olawale, Olaide Opeifa, Olanrewaju Adebiyi, nicknamed Maja, and Jamiu Omosanya, alias Orobo, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.

At the Western Funeral Home in Ijede, Ikorodu, they were accused of both the attempted murder and the murder of Etunmuse.

The defence team continued to cross-examine Babatunde Olayinka, a prosecution witness, earlier in the trial.

Olayinka was asked if he could state that the defendants were involved in the attack on the deceased by Olanrewaju Ajanaku, the main defence attorney for the first, second, and third defendants, as well as the fifth defendant later on.

Additionally, he inquired as to whether he had been able to see Oluwatosin Onamade, a local lawmaker and burial services entrepreneur,’s compound from where he was hiding after the claimed attack.

On April 16, 2021, the day of the incident, the witness told the court that he observed some individuals brandishing machetes at the Onamade complex, so he took cover in the cemetery and laid down for a bit.

The witness also testified in court that he turned back as he was hiding from the men brandishing machetes and noticed a dead body next to him.

Ajanaku asked the witness, “Can you say emphatically that the first, second, third and fifth defendant had anything to do with the body you saw?”

The witness replied that he could not say emphatically that the defendants had anything to do with the body.

The defence counsel to the fourth defendant, Mahmud Adesina, continued with the cross-examination of the prosecution witness and questioned him on whether he had told the court earlier that Femi Onamade, a relative of Oluwatosin Onamade, was the one who knew the defendants in person.

Olayinka confirmed that Oluwatosin was able to identify the defendants, and Femi was the one who knew them.

Mr. M. T. Adewoye, the prosecution attorney, requested the witness elaborate on his earlier statement to the court stating that he was unable to identify the defendants during his re-examination.

Olayinka said in court that he did see the individuals with the machetes when they entered the compound.

Adewoye asked the judge to summon Femi Onamade as a witness so that she may appear in court.

The judge then called Femi Onamade as a witness.

The matter was postponed by the judge until February 19, 2024, so that the trial may continue.

The prosecution had claimed that the suspects had also severed Femi Onamade’s wrist, Tosin Onamade’s younger brother, during a prior court appearance on April 6.