NAN-H-41
Pleas
By Deborah Akpede
Lagos, March 2, 2017 (NAN) Three men, who had pleaded guilty to fighting in the public, on Thursday in Lagos changed their pleas just as the court was set to pronounce judgment.
The accused — Folorunso Olabisi, 27; Rasheed Somoye, 20; and Simon Solomon, 23 — had admitted guilt on Feb. 23 before an Ikeja Magistrates’ Court.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the accused were remanded at Kirikiri Prisons and facts and sentence fixed for March 2.
However, when the Magistrate, Mr A. A. Adesanya, was about to sentence them, they changed their pleas and denied the charge, claiming that they did not understand the charge.
Adesanya, therefore, granted the trio bail in the sum of N50,000, each with one surety each and adjourned the case to March 15 for mention.
The accused, who are all residents of Alakuko, a Lagos suburb, are being tried for threatening violence, breach of peace and conspiracy.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Insp. George Nwosu, told the court that the accused committed the offences on Feb. 18 at Alakuko on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.
He said the accused with others still at large conducted themselves in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace by fighting in the public.
“The accused, who are drivers and conductors, engaged in a free-for-all, thereby disturbing the peace of residents of the area.
“An argument ensued between two group of drivers and conductors which degenerated into a fight.
“They used some dangerous weapons to inflict wounds on one another.
“The timely intervention of policemen , however, saved the situation; the accused were arrested, while others ran away,” he said.
The offences contravened Sections 56, 166 and 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Section 56 carries a penalty of one year imprisonment, while Section 166 stipulates three months or N45, 000 fine or both.
Section 409 provides two years for conspiracy. (NAN)
DOA/AAB/DA
Edited byAdeboye Ajayi/Dele Akinsola