REBECCA AJANI
A Chief Magistrate’s Court in Iyaganku, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, has ordered that a notorious Fulani leader, Iskilu Wakili, be remanded in a correctional facility.
Wakili had been accused of masterminding the criminal activities, including killings kidnapping, and armed robbery, among others, being perpetrated in Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State.
He was arrested by the Oodua Peoples Congress, in collaboration with other security outfits in Kajola, and later handed over to the police, who had initially arrested the OPC members who apprehended him.
Wakili was charged on a six-count charge, bordering on murder, conspiracy, kidnapping and armed robbery, alongside his sons – Abu, Samaila and Aliyu Manu.
Prosecuting counsel, Adewale Amos, said Wakili and his sons allegedly conspired to commit the offences.
He alleged that on October 20, 2015, Wakili caused the death of one Akinwale Akande, a corporal, while he was on duty, adding that on August 15, 2020, the Fulani leader and some other suspects also kidnapped a woman and robbed her of N100,000 in the Idi-Emi area of the state.
The presiding judge, Emmanuel Idowu, ordered that the suspects be remanded in Abolongo Correctional facility.
He ordered the police to return the case file to the Directorate of Public Prosecution and adjourned the matter till May 17 for mention.
The Oyo State Police Command had earlier urged members of the public with corroborating evidences against the suspects to come forward, saying this would go a long way in ensuring that watertight evidence was established for the purpose of diligent prosecution.
The Police, however, dismissed claims in some quarters that anyone who showed up at the police station to give evidence would be arrested, and that some people had also been told to pay money before they were granted bail.
