A Chief Magistrates’ Court in Ikeja, Lagos, has convicted and discharged six men who had been on trial for disrupting public peace during the 2020 #EndSARS protests.
The defendants—Daniel Joyinbo (31), Adigun Sodiq (28), Kehinde Shola (32), Salaudeen Kamilu (29), Sodiq Usseni (33), and Azeez Isiaka (34)—pleaded guilty to the charge of breaching public peace as part of a plea bargain agreement with the Lagos State Government.
Magistrate Bola Osunsanmi, upon reviewing the plea bargain, found the men guilty but chose to discharge and caution them rather than impose a prison sentence, noting they had already spent nearly four years in custody.
Earlier in the proceedings, Dr. Babajide Martins, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), presented an amended charge to the court.
He stated that the defendants committed the offence on November 23, 2020, at 12:00 p.m. in Ebutte Metta, Lagos, and that their actions were likely to cause a breach of public peace, in contravention of Section 168(d) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
Dr. Martins urged the court to sentence the defendants based on their guilty plea.
In response, T.D. Ojeshino, representing the defendants, pleaded for leniency, arguing that they were first-time offenders and some were breadwinners for their families.
Ojeshino emphasized, “My lord, I plead the court to tamper justice with mercy as the defendants are first-time offenders.”
