A warder has shot dead a man who pretended to be one of the kidnappers of the six pupils of Lagos Model College, Igbonla, at the Ebute Meta Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.
The suspect, Chizoba Okoye, was fleeing the court premises shortly after his case was adjourned till January 2018 when he was shot dead.
The corpse of the 24-year-old was said to have been taken into a prison ambulance and deposited in a morgue.
It had been reported that Okoye was first arraigned at the Chief Magistrate Oluwayemisi Adelaja’s court on August 3, 2017, on one count of false representation and demanding ransom.
The police prosecutor, Chinalu Uwadione, had told the court that Okoye, while presenting himself to be one of the kidnappers of the six pupils, demanded N2m ransom from their parents on June 11, around 8pm.
He had said the offence was punishable under Section 6 (iii) of the Lagos State Anti-Kidnapping Law, 2017.
Okoye was reported to have been brought to the court one more time before his case came up again on Wednesday.
It was learnt that after the matter was heard and the suspect was being taken to a cell in the court, he bolted.
He said, “Okoye was not involved in the actual kidnapping. He had heard about it like every other person and he decided to call the parents of the boys to demand N2m for their release. That was how he was arrested.
“This is the third time that he would be brought to court. The magistrate had adjourned his case till January 15, 2018. In fact, he was going to be freed on that day based on certain reasons.
“But he fled the court and the warder chased him to the police barracks beside the court. The man asked him to stop, but he refused and continued running. That was how he was shot dead. Operatives of the prison ambulance service confirmed him dead, after which he was taken away.”
