Possession of firearm: Court warns musician Small Doctor, others to be of good behaviour

Chief magistrate A. O. Komolafe (Mrs) of an Ebute-Meta chief magistrate court, Lagos, yesterday advised Afro hip-hop musician, Temitope Adekunle, famously known as Small Doctor, and three of his band members to be of good behaviour. Other respondents counselled to be of good behaviour by the chief magistrate are Dare Osho, Sanusi Lateef and Hussein […]

Chief magistrate A. O. Komolafe (Mrs) of an Ebute-Meta chief magistrate court, Lagos, yesterday advised Afro hip-hop musician, Temitope Adekunle, famously known as Small Doctor, and three of his band members to be of good behaviour.

Other respondents counselled to be of good behaviour by the chief magistrate are Dare Osho, Sanusi Lateef and Hussein Darego.

Mrs Komolafe gave the advice while delivering ruling in a motion ex parte brought before the court by the police seeking a bidding order against the musician and the others.

At the proceedings, the musician was represented by Mr Yakubu Eleto,Akeem Shittu and other lawyers.

The police had, in the motion argued by Barrister Cyril Ajifor, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, asked the court for an order requiring the music star and other respondents to execute or enter into a recognizance with sureties to keep the peace in Shogunle and its environs of Lagos for a period of one year.

They should also not, during that period, engage, recruit, instigate or incite any member of the community to cause breach of public peace or disturb peace within or outside the community and any other order the court may deem fit.

The motion ex parte was supported with a seven-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Inspector Kasali Saturani, who stated how the respondents were with a double-barrel English-made pistol at the Shogunle area of the state on Monday.

Upon hearing from the police lawyer, Mrs Komolafe, while releasing Small Doctor and the other respondents to two sureties with N5million bond each, made an order bidding them, for a period of one year, not to engage, recruit, instigate or incite any member of the Shogunle community, and Lagos State by extension, to cause any breach of public peace.

Small Doctor and the three others had been arraigned yesterday before the court for allegations of unlawful possession of firearm and threat to life.

The police had arrested Small Doctor and his friends on Monday December 3, 2018 at the Oshodi area of Lagos for allegedly wielding a gun and threatening to shoot a police officer.

Prior to last Monday’s incident, the musician was alleged to have once been involved in a shooting scene at a musical show at Agege, Lagos, where he performed and where four persons were injured from gun wounds.

The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, was said to be very angry when he was informed it was Small Doctor again that had allegedly threatened to shoot some policemen on Monday.

He consequently immediately directed that the case be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Panti, Yaba.

“You would have thought the incident would caution him but surprisingly today, I got a situation report from traffic monitors at the Oshodi expressway about four unknown gunmen in a green unregistered SUV. He (Small Doctor) allegedly brought out a weapon and threatened to fire the policemen. Fortunately, the Divisional Police Officer and other policemen at Shogunle intercepted the suspects and arrested them.

“I am concerned as one would expect that a popular musician like him would be a role model but his character of gangsterism is nothing to emulate,” Edgal had said on Monday.