On Thursday, September 5th, a Lagos Chief Magistrate Court remanded Ganiyu Oyedepo, also known as Koko Zaria, a Chieftain of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), in prison for assaulting actor Baba Lawori.
In July, Kemi Filani stated that the Yoruba actor had cried out to Nigerians for help after being brutally attacked by one of Koko Zaria’s staffers. He described how, while acting as a Master of Ceremony at an event, a stranger approached him, claiming that Koko Zaria wanted to see him, unaware that it was a set-up.
When he arrived, Koko Zaria asked why he hadn’t acknowledged him. Baba Lawori had apologized and promised to make amends when one of his associates slammed a bottle on his head, and he was covered in his blôod and lost consciousness.
The Nigeria police said it would investigate the assault, and they kept to their words, as Chief Magistrate B Sonuga remanded Koko Zaria after he pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him by the operatives of the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (FCIID). The prosecutor, Morufu Animashaun, a legal officer in the legal department of FCIID, Alagbon said in a charge marked B/40/2024, told the court that the defendant committed the offences on June 5, 2024 at Idimu, by conspiring with some of his boys to assault Lawori in the head with a bottle, which led to an injury.
The protege of MC Oluomo denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty to the charges. His lawyers, S. Bello and S.O Ajetomobi, moved for bail application, saying the charge against their client is a bailable one. They urged the court to grant him bail in the most liberal terms.
Chief Magistrate Sonuga, after hearing counsels’ submissions, grated Oyedepo bail in the sum of N2 million with two sureties in like sum. The sureties must be of unquestionable character with evidence of means of livelihood and reside within the court’s jurisdiction.
The Chief Magistrate also ordered the sureties to present to court evidence of three years tax and have their addresses verified. The Chief Magistrate, however, remanded the defendant in the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS) custody, pending the perfection of bail terms.
