The arraignment of three suspects linked to the alleged murder of an officer of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Funmilayo Lasisi, and her daughter, Adesewa, was stalled on Monday at the Osun State High Court, Osogbo, over the absence of defence counsel.
The defendants — Gboyega Daramola, 39; Sunday James, 38; and Fajemirokun Victor, 36 — were brought to court by officials of the Nigerian Correctional Service before Justice Yinka Aderibigbe.
The charge could, however, not be read and plea taken as no lawyer appeared for the defendants.
Assistant Director at the Osun State Ministry of Justice, Muyiwa Ogunleye, who appeared for the prosecution, informed the court that the state had yet to serve the defendants with copies of the information filed against them.
Justice Aderibigbe adjourned the case till December 8, 2026, for arraignment and possible hearing, directing that the defendants must be represented by counsel on the next date. The judge also cautioned journalists to report proceedings fairly to avoid misinformation.
Speaking with newsmen after the sitting, Ogunleye explained why the case could not go on.
“The defendants were to be arraigned today, and they were brought to court this morning, but they were not represented by any lawyer. That is why the case could not go ahead.
“Going by the offence they have been charged with, which is a capital offence, they must be represented by counsel. Also, on our side, we are yet to serve them a copy of the information, which we have promised the court will be done before the next adjournment.
“In an attempt to serve them this morning, the Correctional Centre officials said the information should be brought to the Correctional Centre, Ilesa. I have designated one of my colleagues to ensure service of the information, together with the hearing notice, on the defendants tomorrow, October 13, 2026.
“The case has been adjourned to December 8 for the plea of the defendants and possible hearing of the case. We will ensure we bring our witnesses on that day and open our case. We have lined up eight witnesses — four police officers and four civilian witnesses — and we believe that on the next date, we should be able to assemble a substantial number of prosecution witnesses to open our case,” he said.
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