Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Justice Kamorudeen Olawoyin of an Oyo State High Court, yesterday, discharged and acquitted the Chief of Staff to Governor Seyi Makinde, Bisi Ilaka, of a murder charge.
The murder case was preferred against him by the state government after one of the aides of Ilaka allegedly shot and killed three person in the palace of Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III on September 8, 2018, during Orayan festival. The court freed Ilaka of all the eight-count charge brought against him.
Ilaka, who had become the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for Oyo Central senatorial election, was said to have been waylaid by hoodlums during the festival, and the hoodlums reportedly vandalised Ilaka’s sport utility vehicle in the process.
Ilaka and his security attache, Temitayo Alamiyo, were remanded in Agodi prisons for 18 days before they were granted bail. The licensed gun being used by the security attache was also seized.
In the judgement, Justice Olawoyin, after he discharged and acquitted Ilaka, ordered the police to return to Ilaka, his licensed pump action firearm and other materials taken from him before the commencement of the trial.
Ilaka’s counsel, Abiodun Abdu-Raheem, who is a commissioner-nominee in the state, had filed no-case submission before the court in the suit number HOY/12C/22018.
In his reaction to the judgement, Abdu-Raheem said: “The judge did a wonderful job, having combed all the pieces of evidence before the court vis-a-vis the requirements with regards to the charge against my client. Our law is further enriched by his immense decision.
“I am happy and I thank God that the journey has ended well. I equally thank my client for his cooperation. While we were crossing the thick forest of litigation, we subjected our ideas to constant review, which he contributed immensely to. Today, I am now a better advocate.”
Head of Ilaka’s political think-tank, Bola Akinyemi, also said: “Ilaka is a peace-loving man, who can’t hurt a fly. He has an undying love for the people from Oyo. Ordinarily by his schedule, he wasn’t supposed to be in Oyo on the day of the tragedy. But his love for the people of Oyo made him to answer the call from the other high chiefs. He abandoned a party meeting to attend the festival
“For him to have been accused of shooting his own people is unthinkable. He went through emotional stress during the trial. If not for the plan we had put in place, it would have affected negatively, our plans for his primary election. But we thank God everything is now history.”