Remanded in prison over violation of bail conditions

Drama ensued at a Chief Magistrate’s Court sitting in Ore, the headquarters of Odigbo Local Council of Ondo State as a commercial driver, Taiwo Suberu, who is facing a murder case, feigned illiteracy during trial.

Suberu, who was arraigned before Magistrate A.B.T. Oyedele on Friday, had the bail terms earlier granted him revoked over his ongoing trial in the alleged killing of two medical doctors five years ago. He pretended to be an illiterate after he denied signing the statement he made in the police station but admitted to have acquired both primary and secondary education in Osun State.

Unconsciously too, the defendant responded to questions put to him in English Language by the prosecution counsel, Mr. Wale Bamisile, who is also a Principal Legal Officer in the Ministry of Justice. Suberu was accused of killing two medical doctors, Femi Ogunbodede and Olukoju Oluwaseyi Abdulrasaq, both 32 years old, in an accident that happened on June 29, 2015. He was also accused of not coming to the court sittings with the vehicle he drove when the accident occurred.

Suberu was accused by the Office of the State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of reckless driving, which led to the death of the 32-year-old medical doctors.

It was said that since the vehicle was released for the defendant on bond in 2017, he had not appeared in court with the vehicle after 16 adjournments.Being one of the conditions the defendant was granted bail by the court, Suberu also failed to prove to the court that he knew the names of his sureties and their exact locations when asked by the magistrate.

The prosecution counsel argued that according to findings, the defendant lacked the pre-requisite of being a driver, hence his reckless driving, which led to the death of the two young doctors.He also prayed that the vehicle should be impounded by the court pending the determination of the case.

The magistrate, in her ruling, expressed displeasure over the defendant’s flagrant abuse of court proceedings and for repeatedly violating his bail conditions.She, therefore, ordered that Suberu should be sent back to the facility of the Nigerian Correctional Centre and adjourned the case to February 27, 2020 for the continuation of the trial.

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