A talisman was found in the courtroom following the last sitting of a murder case.
Justice Hakeem Oshodi of Ikeja High Court, has warned members of the public against dropping charms in his courtroom.
Oshodi made this warning as he was presiding over the trial of five men charged with the killing of one Ifeanyi Etunmuse.
Telling the public to desist against such an act, Oshodi stated that the charms would not prevent him from adjudicating on the murder trial before him.
The judge’s warning may not be unconnected to the talisman that was found in the courtroom after the last sitting of the court on the murder case.
“Do not leave your property here again. It doesn’t work anymore,” the judge said, as he issued the warning in Yoruba language.
Earlier during the trial, the defence counsel, Olanrewaju Ajanaku, continued with the cross-examination of the prosecution witness, Babatunde Olayinka.
Ajanaku is the lead defence counsel for the first, second, third and fifth defendants.
He had asked Olayinka whether the defendants had a hand in the attack on the deceased and if he was able to get a view of the compound of the local politician and funeral services businessman, Oluwatosin Onamade, from his hiding place.
The witness, Olayinka, told the court that he hid himself in the cemetery, and laid down for a while to hide himself from a group of men that he saw wielding machetes in front of Onamade’s compound on the day of the incident, April 16, 2021.
The witness told the court that while hiding from the machete-wielding men, he turned around and saw a body beside him.
Ajanaku asked the witness, “Can you say emphatically that the first, second, third and fifth defendant had anything to do with the body?”
The witness replied that he could not say emphatically that the defendants had anything to do with the body.
Under cross examination by Mahmud Adesina, counsel for the fourth defendant, Olayinka, affirmed that it was Femi who knew the defendants and Oluwatosin who could identify them.
Another prosecuting counsel, M. T. Adewoye, reexamined the witness and asked him to clarify what he meant when he told the court earlier that he could not identify the defendants.
Olayinka told the court that he indeed saw the machete-wielding men when they came into Onamade’s compound.
Adewoye requested the court to issue a witness summons for Femi Onamade to appear in court.
Justice Oshodi issued the witness summons for Femi Onamade.
He adjourned the matter till Friday, February 19, 2024 for the continuation of trial.
