Court frees armed robbery suspect over absence of prosecution witness

<p>Reprieve came the way of one Ojo Gbenga, a suspect standing trial for alleged armed robbery and conspiracy, as an Ikeja High Court on Monday struck out his case due to absence of the prosecution witness.</p>, <p>According to Justice Oyindamola Ogala, the “defendant’s presumption of innocence is still valid’’.</p>, <p>“The defendant should be released in the absence of any matter in any other court.</p>, <p>“The prosecution is at liberty to re-arrest when the victim (who is the prosecution witness) is ready to reopen the case,” Ogala said.</p>, <p>The state prosecutor, O.A Azeez, told the court that the prosecution witness, who is the victim in the matter, relocated outside of Lagos State after the incident, hence his absence.</p>, <p>Azeez said that he also tried to contact the Investigating Police Officer (IPO) in charge of the case but the effort was not fruitful.</p>, <p>The defence counsel, Bidemi Ademola, told the court that the matter should be struck out since the prosecution witness had relocated with no intention of coming back to Lagos.</p>, <p>He said that the defendant has been in custody since 2022 and should not be kept there indefinitely.</p>, <p>NAN reports that the defendant was first arraigned on August 3, 2022, on a two-count charge bordering on conspiracy and armed robbery.</p>, <p>Gbenga was alleged to have carried out the act in company of others, now at large, on February 26, 2022, at about 10:30 pm, in Ojo-Ladipo Street, Ikotun area of Lagos.</p>, <p>The offences, according to the prosecution, contravene sections 299 and 297 (2) (a) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, C. 17, Vol 3, Law of Lagos State, 2015.</p>