The Lagos State Government, on Tuesday, arraigned a dismissed cop, Olalekan Ogunyemi, before the state High Court in Ikeja for allegedly killing a football fan, Kolade Johnson.
PUNCH Metro had reported that Kolade was shot dead on March 31, 2019, when some policemen attached to the Anti-Cultism Unit of the Lagos State Police Command stormed Olu Aboderin Street in the Onipetesi area of the state.
The victim was watching a football match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur when the incident happened.
Ogunyemi, 45, was arraigned for murder on April 5 before an Ebute Meta Magistrates’ Court after an orderly room trial found him guilty of unlawful use of a firearm, but his plea was not taken and he was subsequently remanded in the Ikoyi Correctional Centre.
Ogunyemi was alleged to have used his Ak-47 rifle to kill Kolade by shooting him in the lower abdomen.
However, the Lagos State Government arraigned Ogunyemi on Tuesday on one count of murder before Justice A. J. Coker.
He pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The offence was said to contravene Section 223 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.
Following his plea, the prosecutor, Y. G. Oshoala, urged the court to allow the dismissed cop to continue to be remanded in the correctional facility.
“We ask that the defendant continue to be detained in prison custody before the trial date. Our witnesses are available and we are ready to commence the trial,” he said.
Adjourning the case, Justice Coker urged the defence counsel, Ike Ezekwen, to intimate his client of the option of a plea bargain before the commencement of trial.
Justice Coker adjourned the matter till January 15, 2020, and ordered that the defendant be remanded in the Ikoyi Correctional Centre.
