Wetin dey happen for Mile 12 Lagos sef........Police arraign another 88 suspects over Mile 12 mayhem

The police on Thursday arraigned other sets of suspects in connection with the March 3, 2016 mayhem that broke out at the popular Mile 12 Market in the Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos State. The incident claimed no fewer than four lives while several houses were burnt. On Thursday, the police charged 88 persons before the Lagos State
Magistrates’ Court in Ikeja. Twenty-eight of them were charges before Mrs. Y.O. Aje-Afunwa. This was coming after 89 persons were arraigned on Wednesday in connection with the mayhem. Thirty-two out of those arraigned on Wednesday were charged before Mrs. B.O. Osunsanmi. The charges pressed against the new set of suspects on Thursday bordered on conspiracy, felony, unlawful assembly, and acting in a disorderly manner to disturb the public peace.The police prosecutor, Etim Eno-Edobor, said the offences contravened Section 45 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2011. But upon reading and interpreting the charges to them, the accused persons pleaded not guilty. The Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecutions had however taken over the prosecution of the suspects. A state counsel, Mr. Jide Martins, who appeared in court on Thursday, said he had the instruction of the Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem, to take over the case.Martins said the directive was in line with Section 211 (1)(b) of the 1999 Constitution. The police prosecutor, Eno-Edobor‎, did not oppose him. After Martins had taken over, counsel for the 1st, 12th and ‎15th defendants, Micheal Oni, urged the court to grant his clients bail on liberal terms in view of their not guilty plea. Counsel for the 3rd, 7th and 28th defendants, Chief S.A. Bello, aligned with the submission of Oni and assured the court that his clients would not jump bail. But Martins opposed the applications for bail, saying that none of the accused persons had a fixed or traceable addresses. “My Lord, going through their statements, we found out that they don’t have places of abode while most of them are from Niger Republic and Republic of Chad.“The purpose of bail is for them to be able to go home and come back to answer the charges against them‎. In this case, it would be difficult for the police to trace them and bring them back,” Martins argued. In a short ruling, the magistrate held that the offences preferred against the accused persons were bailable. She subsequently granted each of them bail in the sum of N200,000 with two sureties in the like sum.The matter was adjourned till May 27, 2016 for trial.