A Lagos State Chief Magistrate Court sitting in Ogba on Tuesday remanded an alleged assassin, Wasiu Akinwande, also known as Olori Esho, in the custody of the Kirikiri Correctional Centre for allegedly carrying out the murder of nine persons in the state.
Magistrate Mobolaji Tanimola ordered that the defendant be kept behind bars for the first 30 days, pending when the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) will issue legal advice.
The Nigerian Police Force had filed an 11-count charge of conspiracy, murder, attempted murder, illegal possession of firearms, membership of an unlawful society, possession of a poisonous dagger, grievous bodily harm, threat to life, and possession of other arms against the defendant.
The police prosecutor, Nosa Uhumwangho, had informed the court that the defendant and others still at large allegedly committed the offences between December 9, 2010, and April 5, 2025, at different locations within Lagos State, including Mushin, Idi-Araba, Surulere, and Fadeyi.
Uhumwangho also claimed that the defendant, while allegedly in unlawful possession of an AK-47 rifle, shot and killed one Yusuf Bolakale (30) and one Yusuf Ramadan (23) at No. 11 Mosalashi Street, Mushin, Lagos.
The prosecutor further alleged that on December 9, 2010, at Tiamiyu Street, Fadeyi, the defendant shot and killed a 10-year-old girl, Aminat Lateef, while she was running an errand.
He alleged that the defendant, on July 31, 2024, killed six other persons, identified as Anyila (surname unknown), Ojajo (surname unknown), and four others, during a violent clash between rival factions of an unlawful society at Idi-Araba.
Uhumwangho also told the judge that the defendant allegedly fled from the scenes of the crimes to the Alagbado area of Lagos, where the police eventually apprehended him.
The defendant’s plea was not taken because the Magistrate Court is not constitutionally empowered to try the offences.
