NURTW crisis: Court throws out case against two bus conductors

A chief magistrate court sitting at Igbosere, Lagos, on Monday threw out a four-count criminal charge that the police had levelled against two bus conductors. The men, Ismail Sani and Gorilla Junaid, were arrested by the police after a clash involving two rival groups of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), which occurred […]

A chief magistrate court sitting at Igbosere, Lagos, on Monday threw out a four-count criminal charge that the police had levelled against two bus conductors.

The men, Ismail Sani and Gorilla Junaid, were arrested by the police after a clash involving two rival groups of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), which occurred on August 24, 2019 at the Idumota area of Lagos Island.

The men pleaded not guilty to the charges and were released on bail. They claimed they were not involved in the clash as they did not belong to any of the rival NURTW groups.

Police prosecutor, Tope Adega, had alleged that the arraigned men wounded a victim, damaged an office worth N10 million, and stole a sum of N500,000 and some ATM cards from the office.

Throwing out the case, Magistrate B. I. Bakare noted that since the accused persons were arraigned, the complainant had not come to the court to testify against them.

The court, therefore, struck out the case due to lack of diligent prosecution.

In another case, the court ordered that two men, Ayuba Balogun and Evans Adamson, be remanded in prison custody for allegedly possessing illegal firearms and murder of Olayinka Mamora.

Mamora (alias Momok) until his death in 2015, was an aide to the then Lagos State Treasurer of the NURTW, Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya (alias MC Oluomo).

The assailants, said to be 10 in number, allegedly rode on motorcycles to Mosaku Street, Oshodi, and shot Mamora in the head, killing him.

The late Mamok, 46, was survived by an aged mother, wife and child.

The deceased was killed inside a barbing saloon while he was having a hair cut. According to an eyewitness, the assailants, after killing Mamok, dragged his lifeless body outside and put it on top of his ash-coloured Honda saloon car.

Bakare ordered the remand of Balogun and Adamson for the next 30 days.