Court rejects ‘attempted murder’ charge against MAPOLY students
An Ogun State Magistrates’ Court I sitting in Isabo, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, Wednesday, was reported to have rejected the ‘attempted murder’ charge slammed on the 20 students of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, who were arrested at Pansheke on Tuesday.
The students were arrested for allegedly taking part in a protest they tagged ‘black week.’
The protest which began on Monday was due to the inability of the students to sit for their second semester examination earlier scheduled for September 18, because of the lingering face-off between the lecturers of the institution and the state government.
The suspects who were brought to the court premises in the early hours of Wednesday could not be arraigned as a charge contained in the charge sheet was reportedly rejected by the court.
It was gathered that the magistrate (name withheld) who was to handle the case, queried the inclusion of ‘attempted murder’ in the charges preferred against the students arguing that the suit was not properly filed.
A staff of the court who preferred anonymity said the magistrate told the prosecutor that the suit was not properly instituted.
The source also said the court also demanded duplicate of the case file after being properly filed.
The students may be arraigned on Thursday.
Meanwhile, facts have emerged that only five of the twenty suspects are students of MAPOLY.
It was gathered that among those arrested were a civil servant in the service of the Ogun State Government who was on his way home from work and a corps member serving in the state.