A Chief Magistrateโs Court sitting in Yaba axis of Lagos has ruled that a chieftain of the National Union of Road Transport Worker (NURTW), Adekunle Lawal, popularly called Kunle Poly, be remanded at the Kirikiri correctional centre pending when allegations leveled against him on the clashes that occurred in Idumota would be determined.
The judge said that Kunle Poly should be remanded at the centre, as allegations brought against him on the clashes that claimed lives and resulted in the destruction of property were yet to be proven untrue.
Kunle Poly was remanded on Monday during the court proceedings oversee by Chief Magistrate Linda Balogun, barely two days after the Nigerian Police granted him bail following the expiration of a 30-day custody appeal granted to the law enforcement agency.
Confirming outcomes of the court proceedings, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for Zone 2, Onikan, Lagos, Hauwa Laraba, told News Men that the NURTW has been remanded by the court.
Hauwa further disclosed that the magistrate has adjourned the case to Tuesday, March 1st, 2022, for further hearing of allegations levelled against the transport union member.
It would be recalled that Kunle Poly, and two others were under the custody of the Nigerian Police, Zone 2, and they were Idowu Johnson and Agboola Akeem popularly called Okoro.
In previous ruling, the magistrate had said that the Idumota clashes resulted in a breach of peace across the countryโs commercial capital and it put residents of the axis under fears and disrupted commercial activities within the state.
Balogun said that keeping the NURTW members under the police custody would help unravel other hidden facts on unrests that led to the loss of lives and destruction of property worth millions of Naira.
According to her, the three defendants are to be remanded in the facility of the Nigeria Police Zonal Monitoring Unit, Zone 2 Headquarters, Onikan-Lagos, for the next 30 days, to enable the police to conclude investigations.
Earlier, Animashaun, while presenting the case before the Magistrate, told the court that the application was pursuant to sections 264(1), (2), (3), (4), and (6) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Lagos State, 2021 (as amended).
The Counsel added that the request was also in line with sections 4 and 10 of the Police Act, 2020, and sections 6(c), 35(1)(C)(5), and (7)(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 199 (as amended).
He told the court that the application sought, was to enable the police to conclude investigations of a case of threat to life and property, violence, cultism, mayhem, and conducts likely to cause a breach of peace, unlawful possession of firearms, conspiracy, and murder against the three men.