• Adjourns case for hearing till February 21
An Oyo High Court sitting in Ibadan has granted bail to 12 suspected killers of an undergraduate of Ajayi Crowther University, Jeffrey Akro.
The bail was granted with a sum of N5 million and two sureties each in like sum while the case is adjourned till Friday, 21 February 2025.
The suspects pleaded not guilty to a 2-count charge when the case was mentioned for hearing at the same court in Awe, Oyo state.
Their plea and oral application for bail could not be taken during the last sitting hence the adjournment to yesterday.
Justice Ladiran Akintola however at the sitting on Friday granted bail to the suspects with a sum of N5m while their parents will stand as sureties.
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The Court in its ruling ordered that ” each of the 1st- 12th defendants is hereby admitted to bail in the sum of N5m with two sureties each, one of whom must be a biological parent of the applicant/defendant
A former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Delta state, and Counsel to the Prosecutor, Chief Victor Otomiewo said: “The most important thing is the pronouncement, and what every lawyer knows is that the granting of bail is not a declaration of innocence or acquittal.
“The re-trial has been adjourned till February 21, 2025. If we are unable to resolve the matter on that date, the trial will proceed accordingly.
“With the pronouncement of the Judge and his conduct of the trial so far, everybody will go home and see that Justice, real justice not abstract justice has been served.
Also in his comment, Counsel to the 7th defendant, Wole Efunnuga noted that ”the trial Judge did not just come up granting bail, there is precedent condition.
“The Judge looked at the issue holistically and he made it a point of duty to seek the opinion of the Prosecution counsel to ask if the decision is of the counsel.
” My learned counsel used his discretion and the ruling represented the views of all the parties involved”.