Osun Park Management System Member Remanded for Murder

An individual known as ‘Emir’ and a member of the Osun Park Management System, Olalekan Oyeyemi, has been remanded in the Ile-Ife Correctional Centre by a Federal High Court in Osogbo, Osun State.

Oyeyemi, who was appointed by Governor Ademola Adeleke, is facing an 11-count charge brought against him by the Nigeria Police Force.

His arrest by the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Osun State Police Command in 2023 was in connection to an incident where he allegedly beat a man into a coma.

During the court session, Oyeyemi’s counsel, Edmund Biriomoni, raised concerns about the jurisdiction of the court and challenged some of the counts listed against his client. Biriomoni specifically objected to the murder charge pressed against Oyeyemi and highlighted that a preliminary objection had been filed.

In response, the prosecutor, Umar Usman, requested the court to withdraw a charge filed on October 16, 2023, and replace it with an amended charge dated January 31, 2024. The prosecutor also urged the court to proceed with taking the plea of the defendant, following the acceptance of the amended charge.

After reviewing the amended charge, the defense counsel sought the court’s permission to verbally challenge counts 4 to 11 of the new charge, which was not granted. The prosecutor argued that the objection to the jurisdiction could only be raised after the defendant’s plea had been taken, and urged the court to allow the case to proceed.

In his ruling, Justice Nathaniel Ayo-Emmanuel granted the withdrawal and substitution of the charge, and ordered the defendant to be remanded in the Ile-Ife Correctional Centre. The defense counsel was instructed to formally file an objection to the amended charge on behalf of his client, and the court adjourned the matter until March 5.