Two residents of Orile Oko-Oba, in the Agege district of the state, were charged by the Lagos State Police Command on Tuesday before an Ogba Magistrate’s Court for allegedly attacking a representative of the electrical distribution firm Ikeja Electric.
The men were charged with four counts of assault and causing a breach of public peace.
The charges read in part, “That you, Odewale Jamiu, Fatai Saheed, and others at large, on September 20, 2022, around 10.45 am, at Oko-Oba Road, Agege, Lagos, in the Ikeja Magisterial District, did conduct yourselves in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace by engaging some Ikeja Electric staff while performing their lawful duty.
“That you, Odewale Jamiu, Fatai Saheed, and others at large, on the same date, time and place, in the aforementioned magisterial district, did assault one Omotosho Olugbenga a worker of Ikeja Electric, that led to the hospitalisation…”
According to the allegations, the offences were punished under Sections 168(d), 413(2), 173, and 230 of the Lagos State Criminal Law of 2015.
The accused entered a plea of innocence.
They were given bail in the amount of N250,000 with two sureties each in the same amount, and the issue was continued until November 15 for further consideration by Chief Magistrate L.A. Owolabi.
Residents holding signs gathered in front of the court and accused Tajudeen Musa, the project manager for Ikeja Electric who oversaw fee collection in the neighbourhood, of intimidating them with police officers.
The posters said, among other things, “IKEDC is a scam,” “Using police to scare the community and shoot at community members,” and “Stop estimated billing.”
Residents who talked to our correspondent under the condition of anonymity claimed that the undertaking manager employed officers to threaten them into paying their payments.
A member of the community association said, “They brought a fee of N110,000 to my house. They have been doing that for months. They also brought the police to shoot at us after we protested against their extortion.”
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