Slain banker: Husband, lawyer absent in court

Akolade Arowolo, the man accused of killing his banker-wife, Titilayo, was absent in court on Wednesday when the case came up at a Yaba Chief Magistrates Court, Lagos.Akolade and his lawyer were not available when Chief Magistrate Demi Ajayi announced that the advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions was ready to be read to him.Ajayi said the contents of the DPPs advice could not be read when the accused was not in the court.Based on this, Ajayi ordered that the officials of the Ikoyi Prisons where Akolade is currently being held should be served a production warrant to make him available in order to hear the advice.The case has been adjourned till November 21 for hearing.Akolade is accused of murdering his wife Titilayo (Omozoje), who was an employee of Skye Bank Plc, on June 24, 2011.On September 9 when Akolade was arraigned, he could not attend the court hearing because he was hospitalised at the Intensive Care Unit of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital after allegedly ingesting an acidic substance.Ajayi had adjourned then for the DPP advice in order to determine the courts jurisdiction on the case.The lawyer to the slain bankers family, Mr. Nelson Ekoh, had initially said the advice of the DPP was stalled because the directorate had not received the victims autopsy report. The family also said they were worried about the slow pace of the process, which had prevented them from burying Titilayo.The autopsy was said to have been carried out by a professor at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital.Meanwhile, three people have appeared before an Ebute-Meta Magistrates Court, Lagos, for allegedly using house No 38, Thomas Animashaun Street in Aguda, Surulere area of Lagos to defraud 83 accommodation seekers of N19.2m.The three accused persons, Tajudeen Yusuf (48), Hakeem Adedotun (48), and Toyin Yemenesa (30) were on Wednesday charged before Magistrate O. Olatunji with 167 counts, which include felony, stealing and using a building to defraud the accommodation seekers of sums of money ranging between N120,000 and N460,000.In one of the counts, the police stated, That you, Yusuf, Adedotun and Yemenesa and four others at large between June 2011 and September 2011, at Aguda, Surulere with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of N460,000 from Uju Okoye under the pretence that you are in a position to rent her an apartment at No 38, Thomas Animashaun, a representation you knew to be false.The charges were read over a period of three days because of their length.The police said the offences contravened sections 516, 390(9) and 419 of the Criminal Code Cap 17, Vol II, Laws of Lagos State, 2003.However, the accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charges on Wednesday.In his ruling, Olatunji granted the accused bail in the sum of N3m and two sureties in like sum.Further hearing on the case has been adjourned till November 21.
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