Nigeria Content Online

The Oyo state government has reopened the murder charge against
Teslim Folarin, Senate majority leaders, and three others over the killing of
Lateef Salako (aka Eleweomo), factional chairman of the National Union of Road
Transport Workers (NURTW).

Justice Akintunde Boade of the Oyo state High Court, on
Wednesday, ordered the service of a suit filed by the state government on Mr.
Folarin and others accused persons.

After listening to H.F. Sule, Oyo state director of Public
Prosecution, DPP, who told the court that the state was not a party to the
release of the accused persons last Thursday, the judge fixed January 27 for
mention of the matter when they were expected to have been properly served on
the notice.

Before their release last week, Mr. Folarin and other accused
persons, Ramoni Jayeoba, Bankole Olaide Raji and Raimi Ismaila, spent nine days
at the Agodi prison where they were remanded on the order of the Ibadan Chief
Magistrate’s court over their alleged involvement in the killing of Mr. Salako.

The magistrate, Fatimat Badrudeen, struck out the two-count
charge of felony (conspiracy to murder) and murder preferred against the
accused persons and discharged them when the police formally withdrew the
charges for further investigation.

Effort by the counsel to the Oyo state government to stop the dismissal of
the matter were unsuccessful as the magistrate refused audience to the state’s
DPP, arguing that the police, who was the original prosecutor, had the right to
withdraw. Eleweomo was killed by yet unknown persons shortly after the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) congress held at the Ona-Ara local government area of
the state, late last year.