COURT DISMISSES MOHBAD’S FATHER’S SUIT CHALLENGING DPP’S LEGAL ADVICE ON NAIRA MARLEY, SAM LARRY
Read Time:1 Minute, 47 Second
By Aishat Momoh. O.
The Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has dismissed a suit filed by Mr. Joseph Aloba, the father of the late singer Ilerioluwa Aloba, popularly known as Mohbad, seeking to nullify the legal advice issued by the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) which cleared Naira Marley, Sam Larry, and others of complicity in his son’s death.
In her ruling on Wednesday, Justice Taiwo Olatokun held that the Attorney General of Lagos State, acting through the DPP, had lawfully exercised prosecutorial discretion. She affirmed that the decision not to prosecute the suspects could not be legally questioned and therefore refused the reliefs sought by the applicant.
“The powers of the Attorney General under the Constitution are absolute in matters of prosecution and cannot be challenged in this manner,” the judge ruled.
Present in court alongside a number of supporters, Mr. Aloba expressed dissatisfaction with the verdict. His legal counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria Wahab Shittu, told journalists that they plan to appeal the judgment.
Mr. Aloba, who brought the suit on behalf of the Aloba family, listed the Attorney General of Lagos State and the Director of Public Prosecutions as respondents. He alleged a denial of fair hearing and argued that the DPP’s legal advice, which exonerated some suspects, pre-empted the Coroner’s inquest that is still ongoing.
He insisted that vital suspects, including Naira Marley and Sam Larry, were mentioned during the inquest and should not have been discharged before the conclusion of proceedings.
However, in a counter-affidavit filed on June 24, Ayinde Ibrahim, a legal officer in the DPP’s office, argued that the suspects were not acquitted but merely discharged based on insufficient evidence.
The DPP maintained that after reviewing the criminal case file an item unavailable to the Coroner or the applicant there was no credible evidence directly or indirectly linking the suspects to Mohbad’s death. This formed the basis of the advice to release them.
Justice Olatokun’s ruling effectively upholds the prosecutorial discretion of the Attorney General, even as Mohbad’s family vows to challenge the decision at the appellate court.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0