Date: 2017-01-19

A lawyer, Mr. Abiodun Dada, on Tuesday told an Upper Area Court 3 at Pake, Ganmo in Ilorin, Kwara State, that the defendant in a case he was prosecuting, Mr. Yinka Adebiyi, had escaped from the Oke-Kura Prisons, where he was remanded.

Dada, who is the lead counsel for a complainant, Mrs. Salmat Adebiyi, told the court that Adebiyi worked his way out of the prison and had been moving freely in the society.

He noted that the defendant got out of detention though he had not met the bail conditions imposed on him by the court.

According to the lawyer, the court granted the defendant bail on the condition that he must produce the passport of the child he had with the complainant, his ex-wife.

Adebiyi had been separated from Yinka.

According to the lawyer, when the defendant could not meet the bail condition, he applied to the court to vary the bail condition which the court rejected and remanded him in prison custody pending when he would comply with all the bail conditions.

Dada, however, said it was surprising that Yinka had worked his way out of the prison and was still not in court on Tuesday.

He, therefore, urged the court to issue a bench warrant against the defendant.

Dada said, "We have no doubt on our mind that justice will be done in this case. Getting justice does not necessarily mean that we must win the case.

Be that as it may, the accused person is absent and considering the nature of the matter which is criminal in nature, at the last day of adjournment, the accused was in court and this morning there is nothing whatsoever from the former lead counsel and the current counsel that took over to show why the accused is not in court.

"In the circumstance of his absence, the court should issue a bench warrant against the accused person. His absence is to flagrantly slight the court."

He added, "Apart from this, I wish to submit that he has not complied with the bail condition earlier ordered by this noble court. At the last adjourned date, the application to vary that bail condition was refused by the court so the accused person ought to have come back to the court to tell the court why he had not complied with the order of the court."

We said this is a court we can vouch for that despite the directive of this court, he manipulated himself out of the order of the court and still failed to make himself available to court today."

The presiding judge said the court was not responsible for the action of the accused, adding that the court had remained diligent and dutiful in its responsibilities. He also reiterated the commitment of the court to be fair to all the parties and ensure that justice was done in the matter.

The judge said, "As far as we are concerned, we ordered the accused having not complied with the bail conditions to be remanded in prison. As far as we are concerned, we did our job, how he manipulated his way, is left with him. As far as we are concerned, we do not know anything about it. The substance of this submission is already in court and our record is intact."