Lagos-based businessman Hassan Alli has challenged the attempt by Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro (SAN), to withdraw a criminal charge against Moroof Owonla, also known as Kaka Moroof.
Owonla and two others were arraigned before Justice Adenike Coker of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja over allegations of land-grabbing by the state’s Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Owonla and his co-defendants were charged with eight counts for allegedly conspiring to commit a felony, along with Olu-Aminu Yemisi Abdulaziz and Ganiyu Aminu.
They are accused of forcing their way into a landed property at No 34, Faguson Osagie Street, Lagos, and removing N30 million worth of construction materials.
In spite of several adjournments, the defendant did not appear before the court on April 25, 2024, to enter a plea, leading Justice Coker to issue a warrant for their arrest.
In a surprise move, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Jide Martins, who had earlier indicted the defendants and recommended trial, filed a notice of discontinuance of the case.
According to Martins, the decision to withdraw the charge against the defendants was based on new evidence discovered in the case recently.
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The move, according to Alli, was an attempt to deny him justice by Pedro, who was a lawyer to Owonla before he became Lagos State’s Attorney-General.
The development, according to Ali, also demonstrated Pedro’s alleged bias in the matter, since the immediate past Attorney-General, Moyosore Onigbajo (SAN), approved the trial of the defendants after reviewing the police report and other supporting facts during his tenure.
He further alleged, “Rather than present the defendants in court, the new Attorney General initiated a meeting which he tagged RESTORATIVE JUSTICE MEETING’ as against arraignment of Moroof Owonla, and his co-defendants in Court and the ugly outcome of the meeting was further boasts before the Attorney-General that he has not committed any offence.
“I am indeed shocked to know that the judiciary has become so weak and predictable by non-state actors like Moroof Owonla, who continue to perpetrate criminality and boast of his connections with people in authority, which is not healthy for Nigeria’s judicial system and the justice Sector.
“I demand justice from all government agencies, all authorities in Nigeria, all well-meaning Nigerians who are in one way or the other affiliated to the justice delivery system in Nigeria including the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Lagos State House of Assembly Justice Committee, Federal House of Representative, Senate Committee on Justice, National Judicial Commission (NJC), Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) and the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA).
“I seek the intervention of all lovers of Justice to wade into this case to avert injustice kindly being meted out on me by improper discontinuance of the criminal infraction occasioned against my person by Moroof Owonla, who is boasting of his strong connection with the Attorney General of Lagos State.
“If this type of evil and injustice is allowed to have its way with me, it could be the turn of any law-abiding citizens of Nigeria tomorrow, ” Alli stated.
