The Oranmiyan of Oko Kingdom, Oba Olagoke Akinola, has said the counts against him and his chiefs at the court were misleading and an attempt to smear his name.
A complainant, Mr Isaac Abiodun of Tropical Culture Nig. Ltd., alleged that the defendants at Aagba village in Surulere local government attacked him.
While reacting to the media report that he and 14 others were ordered to be remanded at Abolongo prison over the allegations, the first-class monarch maintained that the bail condition had been perfected.
Oba Akinola explained that “I was asked to write an undertaking and guarantee that I would be bringing other people involved to the court based on my personal recognition as a first-class king, which I did, and the judges did not even ask for a surety when he granted the bail application on November 23.
Giving an insight into what led to the legal battle, Oba Akinola said, “The narrative is just about land issues; we’ve been on it since about 93 years ago, so many pronouncements have been made on it; we won in some areas, they won in some areas, eventually the case is at the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court has fixed a date for November 11, 2024, for hearing of the case. At a particular point in 2021, they took our people to Abuja and they were charged with terrorism and some other charges.
“At Abuja, we fought against it, and the attorney general of the police took over the matter from the police, and at the end of the state, he returned the file back to Oyo State for the determination of the case. There is nothing like terrorism, and our people stayed about 1 and a half years in Abuja and about four months in Agodi prison. Eventually, they released them on June 25, 2023. They released them on bail, and we’ve been waiting since that time to hear either from the court or the ministry on offences committed by our people. We didn’t hear anything until towards the end of October, when my lawyer called me and informed me that there were some charges against us and that we should come to court.
“We went to court on the 7th of November, at the court they were about to read the charges when my lawyer told them that we were not served any notice of charges, the judge was surprised he went through the court registry and he said we have the right to fair hearing that I should take a guarantee of the remaining 14 people because I am the first class king and that I should produce those people back on the 16th of November, on the 16th of November we were there , they read all the counts, we denied all the counts that was read to us the judge gave me an opportunity as a first class king that I can take bail application of myself and my people which I wrote on my letter headed paper and take to the court for us to come back on the 21st, on the 21st again we were at the court we wrote bail application, and he graciously approved that I should take their suretee on self and personal recognition that was what happened all what I saw was that we were remanded at Abolongo, so I was surprised where the story is emanating from.”
The monarch’s counsel, Barrister Jimoh Olaide Absulsalam, while corroborating the monarch’s claim said ”The story in circulation is not the correct version of what happened at the court. What happened was that we have a bail application in respect of Kabiesi and the others and even before the bail application was passed the court was of the opinion that Kabiesi is a first-class monarch and all other people who are his subject Kabiesi can guarantee them. The court directed that Kabiesi should guarantee their return to court at every subsequent adjournment and that Kabiesi should go and write an undertaking and he wrote it, the second adjournment we were in court, the third adjournment when we argued the matter and the court said it would give the ruling later day before yesterday the ruling was delivered in favour of our client.
The bail application was granted on November 23; the judge did not even request surety because Kabiesi is a first-class monarch.
“It has even gotten to the stage where we reported them to the judge, and he warned them seriously; he was even looking for those journalists. Were they in court? No, no journalists were in court; somebody with intent to discredit Kabiesi and his chief did that to misinform the public.”
