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The Senate majority leader, Teslim Folarin, and three other
persons docked for the alleged killing of Lateef Salako (aka Eleweomo),
factional leader of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), were
on Thursday discharged by an Ibadan Chief Magistrates Court.

Their discharge was sequel to an application from the state’s
police headquarters seeking to withdraw charges earlier preferred against the
accused persons.

Messrs Folarin, Ramoni Jayeoba, Bankole Olaide Raji, and Raimi
Ismaila were, on Tuesday, January 4, arraigned before an Ibadan Chief
Magistrate’s Court on a two count charge of felony (conspiracy to murder) and
murder of Mr. Salako, who was killed on December 30, 2010 at a People’s
Democratic Party’s (PDP) congress of the Ona-Ara local government council.

The accused persons were due for appearance before the court
today (Friday) to witness the session fixed for the mention of their matter.

But, the police prosecutor, Matthew Ojeh, yesterday applied for
an abridgement of the adjournment to an earlier date to allow him move an application
requiring urgency.

In the motion on notice, supported by a 7-paragraph affidavit
deposed to personally by Baba Adisa Bolanta, Oyo State Commissioner of Police,
the police prosecutor asked the court to shift the adjournment date to an
earlier one to allow him move his urgent application.

While granting the application, the presiding magistrate,
Fatimat Badrudeen, said since Adeniyi Akintola (SAN), lead counsel to the
accused persons, did not object it, the abridgement was therefore fixed for
yesterday, which was the only date earlier than the original date fixed.

She also ordered that the accused persons be brought to the
court for the movement of the urgent application.

It was, however, a stormy and dramatic session when the accused
persons were brought from the prison and the court was reconvening. The Senate
leader, who looked ruffled, was brought into the court’s premises in an
ambulance bus around 12.50 pm.

When the case was called and appearances were sought, H.L. Sule,
the state’s director of public prosecution, rose to announce his appearance.
That attracted a vehement rebuff from Mr. Akintola, who insisted that he was
not known to the matter and lacked the right to be heard by the court.

“I am opposed to Mr. Sule’s appearance. He is the DPP. He was
not the one that preferred a charge against the accused persons and he is not
the Commissioner of Police who gave indication of withdrawal of the case. The
police lawyer, who is the prosecutor, is here and he has withdrawn from the
case. It was upon his application that your worship abridged the case to today.
He even filed affidavit of urgency before you to expedite the discharge of the
accused persons. So, there is no other person apart from the Commissioner of
Police that has the charge before you. This case was stood down for the accused
person to be produced in court and here they are,” he said.

Case discharged

It took the intervention of the magistrate, who urged the
learned silk to allow her know why he was in the court.

But as soon as Mr. Sule announced that he was for the
prosecution, Mr. Ojeh interrupted him and told the court that he was the one
for the prosecution.

Though she agreed with the DPP that he has the right to
prosecute anybody anywhere within the state, Mrs. Budrudeen denied him that
right yesterday, arguing that two agencies cannot prosecute the same case at
the same time.

According to her, the police and the DPP should have agreed
before coming to the court and that since the case in question had earlier been
brought to the court by the police, the police prosecutor would be allowed to
carry on.

Having settled that, Mr. Ojeh, on behalf of the Commissioner of
Police, formally moved the application for withdrawal of the charges against
the accused persons to allow “further interrogation on the case.”

Again, Mr. Akintola did not oppose to the application, but
prayed the court to strike out the case and discharge and acquit the accused
persons.

Delivering her ruling on the application, the magistrate said,
“the complainant is hereby allowed to withdraw the charge against the accused
persons and others at large. The charge is hereby struck out.”

She also noted that since the court is a temple of justice, it
would not want to be a clog in the wheel of fairness and justice, adding that
since the premise of the police was to allow it further its investigation on
the killing, the application should be allowed.

Her pronouncement lightened the court hall as Mr. Folarin’s
supporters burst into shouts of victory.

After a few minutes when the noise subsided, Mr. Akintola still
asked the court to give an order to release the accused persons, since the
order to remand them in prison earlier came from the same court.

The court also obliged him, but the accused persons could not
leave the court premises until some hours later due to efforts to perfect
papers of their discharge.

Political maneuvers

News of Mr. Folarin’s release had crept into Ibadan, the Oyo
State capital late Wednesday, and steadily spread through to the morning of
yesterday. Thousands of his supporters were at the Agodi Prison yesterday,
thinking that he would be released earlier.

Despite the theory of further investigation the police fed the
court, NEXT gathered that the release was not unconnected with the developments
at the PDP presidential primaries going on in Abuja.

Sources said members of the National Assembly, who were part of
the delegates to vote at the primaries, had given President Goodluck Jonathan
the condition that if they must participate at the exercise, the Senate leader
must be present there.

They reportedly insisted that they would not be part of the show
if the leader of the Senate is still being incarcerated in Ibadan. Sensing
their seriousness and the consequences on his chances at the programme, the
president, according to the source, ordered the InspectorGeneral of Police
(IGP), Hafiz Abubarkar Ringim, to order his release. That, it was learned,
culminated to the release yesterday.

Mr. Folarin left the court yesterday for the police headquarters
for a meeting with Mr. Bolanta, probably on the restoration of his security
aides withdrawn few hours after the killing of Eleweomo, and it was also learnt
that he was flown to Abuja last night to participate at the primaries.

An Oyo State High Court had, on Wednesday, fixed Monday for
ruling on the bail application argued on their behalf.

The ruling will not be necessary anymore as the charges against the accused
persons have been withdrawn and the accused persons are no more in custody.