Absence of Chief Magistrate Adeola Olatubosun of a Sabo-Yaba Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos has stalled proceedings in the case of assault brought against afrobeat singer Seun Kuti by the police.
The chief magistrate was said to be on an official assignment.
The Court rejistrar communicated the information to counsel in the suit .
Following the absence of the Magistrate,some youths took over the Court premises, accusing the Majistrate of conniving with the police to frustrate Kuti’s release.
The placards carrying protesters with inscriptions such as “Free Seun Kuti”, stop frustrating Seun Kuti’s release, warned that the Majistrate should not incur their anger by allegedly attempting to frustrate the case.
They described the action of the Magistrate as mischievous and intended to further keep Kuti in custody.
A protester, Mr Hakeem Abodunrin, urged the court not to delay Kuti’s release from custody, saying,” the alleged offence is sstraightforward, and the case should be treated accordingly”.As at the time of this report, there was no indication that the court would sit.Olatubosun had, on Thursday, adjourned the case until Tuesday after she extended Kuti’s remand by four days following an application by the police to enable completion of investigation into the alleged assault.Kuti was alleged to had slapped a Police Inspector cn May 13 on the Third Mainland Bridge.On May 16, Olatubosun ordered his remand for 48 hours.
She, however, held that the defendant should be admitted to bail in the sum of one million Naira with two sureties in like sum, at the end of the 48-hour remand.
She ordered that one of the sureties must be a landlord within the jurisdiction of the court.
She directed the prosecutor to duplicate the case file and forward a
copy to the state director of public prosecutions for advice.
