Nine men charged for cultism at Apapa

Court

Nine men were on Wednesday arraigned before an Apapa Magistrates’ Court for allegedly causing breach of peace at Apapa. The defendants were said to be members of a secret cult known as Aye.

The nine men were identified as Sodiq Lawal (23), Rasheed Ismaila (22), Suleiman Ganiyu (20), Jamiu Damilare (25), Samuel Akinmuleya (23), Jimoh Musiba (18), Michael Ajayi (20), Ibrahim Ismaila (18) and Lucky Ladi (18).

The prosecutor, Tony Elike told the court that the defendants committed the offences January 29, 2018 at about 9am at Ireti Street, Ijora Badia, Apapa.

They had in their possession two daggers, quantities of weed suspected to be India hemp, cutlass, charms and other dangerous weapons.

The prosecutor added that the defendants conducted themselves in a manner likely to cause the breach of peace by barricading the street.

According to him, the offences contravened Sections 411, 43(1), 42(9), 329, 44(4), 133(8) and 168(d) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2015.

However, all the defendants pleaded not guilty to the eight-count charge brought against them.

In his ruling, Magistrate Moses Fadeyi granted all the defendants bail except the 4th defendant in the sum of N50,000 with one responsible surety each in like sum. This was because the 4th defendant Damilare, already had another pending case in court; he

had been charged for stealing.

Furthermore, the surety must be resident in Lagos with evidence of tax payment. The court ordered that N20,000 be deposited into the Chief Registrar’s account.

He adjourned the case till March 7, 2018 for mention.