An Ogun State businessman, Azeez Ashiru, has renewed his call on the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Oluwasina Ogungbade, to review the Directorate of Public Prosecutions\u2019 legal advice on a case involving alleged assault, robbery and the use of dangerous weapons against members of his family.\n<\/p>\n
Ashiru, through his counsel, Ayodeji Ifonlaja, also urged the ministry to address alleged bail breaches by the suspects and respond to his petition seeking a review of the charges.\n<\/p>\n
The fresh demand followed an earlier report by PUNCH Metro<\/em> on September 28, 2026, in which Ashiru protested the alleged dropping of several charges initially recommended by the police.\n<\/p>\n In the latest petition, the lawyer disclosed that a fundamental rights suit instituted by the suspects, with suit number HCS\/326\/2025, was dismissed by the Ogun State High Court, Sagamu Judicial Division, on September 30, 2026. The ruling was delivered by Justice O. S. Oloyede.<\/p>\n Ifonlaja argued that the dismissal should not prevent the criminal allegations against the suspects from receiving independent consideration.\n<\/p>\n He also faulted the position attributed to the Attorney-General in the earlier report that the incident arose from a land dispute and did not warrant an armed robbery charge.\n<\/p>\n \u201cThe existence of a land dispute does not excuse, justify or extinguish any criminal offence disclosed by the evidence.<\/p>\n \u201cAllegations of violence, assault, robbery, intimidation and the use of dangerous weapons must be independently assessed based on the police case file and the applicable law,\u201d the petition read.<\/p>\n Acknowledging the Attorney-General\u2019s prosecutorial discretion, the lawyer maintained that the decision on the appropriate charges should be guided by the evidence and the law.\n<\/p>\n \u201cWhere the evidence is capable of disclosing armed robbery or another criminal offence, the appropriate decision should be made in accordance with the law and the interests of justice,\u201d he stated.\n<\/p>\n The lawyer also cited another criminal matter involving Ashiru in 2024, identified as Commissioner of Police v. Abdulmiyu Adams & Another, with DPP Reference No. PPD\/AR\/04\/2024\/001\/49, dated June 28, 2024. <\/p>\n According to the petition, Ashiru maintained that the suspects in the earlier case made confessional statements but were released without prosecution, an experience he feared could recur in the current matter.\n<\/p>\n Ifonlaja further alleged that all but one of the suspects in the current case had jumped bail, urging the ministry to verify their status and take appropriate action in accordance with the law.\n<\/p>\n \u201cWe request that their status and any appropriate legal steps be verified and addressed in accordance with the law,\u201d the petition read.<\/p>\n The lawyer asked the ministry to review the DPP\u2019s legal advice dated February 24, 2026, concerning the case involving the suspects, determine the offences supported by the evidence, and issue a formal response to the petition submitted on April 16, 2026, and subsequent reminders.\n<\/p>\n Expressing his client\u2019s frustration over the delay, Ifonlaja said Ashiru was seeking a fair prosecutorial decision rather than a predetermined outcome against the suspects.\n<\/p>\n \u201cOur client is heartbroken by the prolonged silence of the relevant authorities despite his repeated efforts to seek justice through lawful means.\n<\/p>\n \u201cHe is not asking for the suspects to be convicted without trial; he seeks only a fair, impartial and evidence-based prosecutorial decision,\u201d the petition stated.\n<\/p>\n The lawyer urged the Attorney-General to intervene, saying a review of the case would help restore his client\u2019s confidence in the justice system.\n<\/p>\n When contacted, Ogungbade said he was not aware of the fresh petition. However, he promised to revert.\n<\/p>\n Ogungbade also expressed concern about the alleged abuse of the criminal justice system.<\/p>\n \u201cThis abuse of the system is partly why correctional centres are overflowing with awaiting-trial inmates. As a lawyer, he knows the position of the law on this matter,\u201d he added.\n<\/p>\n Source: <\/p>\n An Ogun State businessman, Azeez Ashiru, has renewed his call on the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Oluwasina Ogungbade, to review the Directorate of Public Prosecutions\u2019 legal advice on… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3830,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}