The choice followed a prosecution that started with claims connecting the offenders to a lethal kidnapping occurrence in Agbamu, Oyun Local Government Area of Kwara State, in August 2023.
A Kwara State High Court being in Ilorin has actually released 8 males implicated of kidnapping, murder, heist and unlawful ownership of guns after the state federal government withdrew the criminal case versus them, almost 3 years after their arrest.
The offenders were released on Wednesday by the administering judge, Honourable Justice Yusuf Adebayo Dikko, after the prosecution, represented by Senior State Counsel Cyril N. Kolo, used to withdraw the charges.
The choice followed a prosecution that started with accusations connecting the offenders to a lethal kidnapping occurrence in Agbamu, Oyun Local Government Area of Kwara State, in August 2023.
The 8 offenders are Suleiman Mohammed, Ibrahim Ahmed, Yekeen Raji, Aliu Saheed Babatunde, Abraham Alaka, Jooji Fajenyo, Salihu Umar and John Gazale.
Throughout the procedures observed by SaharaReporters at the Kwara State High Court in the Government Reserved Area, Ilorin, Kolo informed the court that he was acting upon the directions of the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Senior Ibrahim Sulyman, who was just recently consulted the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).
The prosecution consequently looked for the withdrawal of the case.
Attorneys representing the offenders did not oppose the application however advised the court to release and acquit their customers, arguing that the guys had actually sustained significant challenge, consisting of time in jail, while dealing with severe criminal claims.
Justice Dikko approved the application for withdrawal and released the offenders without acquitting them.
The difference implies the court did not pronounce the males innocent of the claims. Rather, it officially released them after the prosecution withdrew the case.
The state federal government did not openly discuss in the procedures the particular factors for deserting the prosecution.
Accuseds Were Arrested In 2023, Lawyers Say
Talking to SaharaReporters after the court session, a member of the defence legal group stated the case started in August 2023, when the accuseds were jailed and apparently paraded as terrorists.
The attorney stated the arrests and the promotion surrounding the claims exposed the guys to public preconception, with some individuals supposedly branding them terrorists due to the fact that of their ethnic backgrounds.
The legal representative stated a few of the offenders were Fulani and declared that the way in which the claims existed to the general public added to the understanding that the guys was accountable for the criminal activities.
According to the defence attorney, the accuseds were required to jail in August 2023 and stayed there till January 2024, when the defence submitted a bail application that was consequently given.
The attorney included that the guys were arraigned previously in 2026, before the prosecution ultimately used to withdraw the case.
“The case began because August 2023 when the offenders were apprehended and paraded them as terrorists. A great deal of individuals called them terrorists due to the fact that of their people, a few of them are Fulani,” the attorney informed SaharaReporters.
The attorney stated the accuseds had actually suffered considerable psychological and reputational effects from the claims, including that the prosecution’s choice to withdraw the charges followed the case had actually advanced through the court procedure.
Defence Links Case To Dispute Over Farmland
The defence legal representative likewise declared that the case occurred from a disagreement including the offenders, who were farmers, and a lady recognized as the small plaintiff.
According to the attorney, the female had actually bought farmland from the offenders, however differences established when the farmers firmly insisted that they would not leave the land.
The attorney stated that throughout the conflict, the female and other individuals taking a trip with her were abducted by unknown shooters.
Among individuals supposedly abducted, Peter Fadahunsi, later on passed away, according to the prosecution’s modified charge.
The defence attorney declared that after the kidnapping, the cops apprehended the accuseds and implicated them of participation in the occurrence.
The legal representative’s account recommends that the defence thinks the land disagreement related to comprehending the scenarios surrounding the arrests. The readily available court file does not develop that the conflict triggered the arrests or that the accuseds were incorrectly linked.
The prosecution’s modified charge implicated the guys of conspiring to dedicate criminal activities and taking part in the kidnapping, killing, break-in and illegal ownership of guns. Those claims were not shown through a conviction in the procedures explained.
What The Amended Charge Reveals
A court file gotten specifically by SaharaReporters offers information of the accusations brought versus the 8 offenders.
The file is entitled Amended Charge in Charge No. KWS/173/25, in between individuals of Kwara State and the 8 accuseds. It was dated February 19, 2026, and signed by Cyril N. Kolo, Senior State Counsel at the Kwara State Ministry of Justice.
The charge consisted of 6 counts associating with declared offenses dedicated on or around August 27, 2023, in Agbamu and along the Federal Highway near Erin-Ile town in Kwara State.
The very first 2 counts worried the supposed conspiracy to trigger the death of Peter Fadahunsi and the supposed commission of a prohibited act planned to trigger his death.
In Count One, the prosecution declared that the accuseds and others still at big conspired to trigger Fadahunsi’s death in Agbamu on or about August 27, 2023. The charge mentioned Section 9 of the Penal Code, Cap. P4, Laws of Kwara State 2006.
Count Two declared that the accuseds devoted a prohibited act meant to trigger Fadahunsi’s death. It pointed out Section 221 of the very same Penal Code.
The 3rd and 4th counts worried the supposed conspiracy to abduct 4 individuals and the supposed kidnapping itself.
The prosecution implicated the accuseds of conspiring to abduct Chief (Mrs.) Grace Adepoju, Isaac Kehinde, Wale Omobolanle and Peter Fadahunsi, who was noted as departed in the charge.
In Count Four, the state declared that the offenders abducted the 4 victims and required a ransom of 90 million, consequently gathering 7 million before the victims were launched.
The charge pointed out Sections 2 and 15 of the Kwara State Prohibition of Kidnapping Law, 2010, for the conspiracy and kidnapping accusations.
State Alleged Armed Robbery, Seizure Of Cash And Phones
Count Five implicated the 8 offenders and others at big of heist throughout the exact same event.
According to the modified charge, the offenders supposedly dispossessed the victims of their cellphones and money amounting to 1.425 million.
The prosecution pointed out Section 1( 2) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Cap. R11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.
The last count worried the supposed ownership of guns and ammo.
The prosecution declared that on or about August 27, 2023, along the Federal Highway near Erin-Ile town in Oyun Local Government Area, the offenders were discovered in illegal belongings of 4 pump-action weapons, 4 English-made single-barrel weapons, one English-made double-barrel weapon and 63 live cartridges.
The charge pointed out Section 3( 1) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act.
Court Official Questions Prosecution’s Handling Of Case
A court authorities who talked to SaharaReporters revealed issue over the federal government’s handling of a criminal case including accusations of kidnapping and murder.
The main argued that the prosecution needs to have performed an extensive examination and constructed a strong case before bringing the offenders before the court.
“The way in which the Kwara Government dealt with a case of high significance like this is uneasy,” the authorities stated.
The authorities even more declared that insufficient examination and prosecution damaged the state’s case, ultimately causing the choice to withdraw the charges.
“Instead of Kwara Government to do a correct examination and prosecution in this case, they did an extremely lazy task and this damaged their case and now requested for the withdrawal of the case,” the authorities stated.
The authorities likewise connected the handling of severe criminal cases to broader issues about insecurity in Kwara State, arguing that cases including supposed kidnapping and murder need comprehensive examination and reliable prosecution.
The authorities’s evaluation was not a judicial finding on the quality of the examination. The court judgment, as explained in the readily available details, gave the prosecution’s application to withdraw the case and released the offenders.
Federal government Yet To Explain Why It Withdrew Charges
The scenarios surrounding the prosecution’s choice to withdraw the charges stay uncertain.
Throughout the court procedures, Kolo stated he was acting upon the guidelines of the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice. The details offered from the procedures did not develop whether the withdrawal followed an evaluation of the proof, a reassessment of witness testament, an investigative advancement or another legal factor to consider.
The state federal government’s choice likewise leaves concerns about the examination into the kidnapping occurrence, the death of Fadahunsi and the supposed ransom payment.
The readily available files do not develop whether other suspects stay under examination, whether anybody else has actually been charged in connection with the event or whether the authorities plan to pursue additional procedures.
When asked why the federal government was withdrawing the case, Kolo stated it was “in the general public interest.”
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