The Osun State Government has approved the taking over from the Police, the prosecution of a case involving one Adebowale Adeola Babatunde, who falsely presented himself as a Lawyer before a Magistrate Court in Osogbo on March 10, 2021.

The Attorney-General of Osun State, Mr Akande Oluwafemi, issued the approval of the taking over by the Ministry of Justice from the Commissioner of Police, in a statement which the Publicity Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association Osogbo Branch, Dawood Iyiola Ajetunmobi confirmed.

The statement said, “This decision which will enable proper prosecution of the case in Charge No: MOS/152C/2021: Commissioner of Police v Adebowale Adeola Babatunde” was communicated by the Attorney- General to the Chairman of NBA, Osogbo Branch, Hassan Agbelekale on Thursday, in a reply to a letter earlier written by the Association to the Ministry requesting the Ministry to take over the case.

“It can be recalled that the said Adebowale on March 10, 2021 appeared before His Worship, A.A Adeyeba, to move a motion. The way and manner in which he announced his appearance and conducted himself in court gave the Defendant up as someone who has not been called to the Nigerian Bar.

“It was this scenario that made one of the Lawyers in the court, Mr O.U. Yussuf, the immediate past Assistant General Secretary of Osogbo Branch of NBA, to stand up and make an oral application to the court to make enquiry about status of Mr Adebowale as a Lawyer.

“All the questions asked by the court in respect of the Law School that the Defendant attended and the lecturers who taught him, were answered in such a way that established the fact that the Defendant is a fake Lawyer. The Defendant later confessed to the fact that he had not seen the four walls of Law School prior to his appearance before His Worship.

“Immediately, His Worship gave a prompt order for the arrest of the Defendant. In the course of visiting the Defendant’s house for further investigation, four Call to Bar certificates were found in his house, and it was also discovered that the Defendant has been practicing as a fake Lawyer for more than 10 years.

“Meanwhile the trial of the Defendant which was adjourned to Wednesday, 8th of September, 2021 before Osogbo Chief Magistrate Court No.3, Magistrate A.K Ajala, was stalled due to the absence of the Defendant.

“The Defendant’s Counsel, K.E. Ngowke, Esq. told the court that it was his inability to communicate the day’s date to the Defendant that caused Mr Adebowale’s absence. He however, asked for a short adjournment and promised that the Defendant will be in court on the next adjourned date. Although, the Police prosecutor did not object to the adjournment, he however, prayed the court to issue bench warrant against the Defendant.

“In his ruling, Magistrate Ajala refused the prosecutor’s prayer and adjourned the matter to September 24, 2021 for fresh arraignment, since the matter is coming up before him for the first time”, the statement concluded.