27th July, 2019
By Paul Iyoghojie
Concerned Litigants who throng the Igbosere Magistrates’ Court daily to attend to their matters have appealed to the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Chief Judge of Lagos State, Hon. Justice Kazeem Alogba to come to their rescue and find solution to the activities of the professional sureties operating uncontrollably at the court to save the image of the Lagos State Judiciary adjudged to be one of the best in Nigeria.
Some of those who spoke with PM News at the Court stated that they decided to cry out due to the alarming rate the professional sureties WHO stood as sureties to perfect bail had jumped bail after regaining freedom and in the process frustrating litigants and their cases at the court.
They appealed to Sanwo-Olu and Justice Alogba to bring back disciplines, transparency and due process to the court in the perfections of bail as the professional sureties had virtually turned Igbosere Magistrates’ Court to money making business centre.
According to Niyi Ogundare, a litigant, “Professional sureties operating at the Igbosere Magistrates’ Court, Lagos are aiding and abetting suspects to jump bail after perfecting their bail as the sureties do not bother to verify the addresses of the suspects before standing as sureties for them.”
“The worst aspect of the activities of the professional sureties at the court now is that immediately the police bring suspects to court for arraignment, they would rush after the suspects to the surprise of litigants and unlookers and started introducing themselves to the suspects as professional sureties who would stand as sureties for them just because of the money they would extort from them.
“Government should control the activities of professional sureties operating at the Igbosere Magistrates’ Court as many of the suspects they stood as sureties for had jumped bail because the sureties did not verify their addresses.
Mr. Jacob Akhigbe stated: “I am calling on the Lagos State Government to audit all the case files at the Igbosere Magistrates’ Court and see how professional sureties had been using the same name and pictures but with different addresses to stand as sureties for different suspects at different court on a daily basis and once the suspects perfected their bail, they would jump bail.
“I am pleading with Governor Sanwo-Olu to act urgently and control the activities of the sureties operating at the Igbosere Magistrates’ Court, Lagos to stop them from further dragging the good image of the Lagos State judiciary in the mud.
Alhaji Musa Salisu, “I was a victim of the professional sureties operating at the Igbosere Magistrates’ Court and it is very painful when after a complainant reported a matter to the police and the police laboured to arrest the suspects and charged to court only for some gullible elements called professional sureties to manipulate the bail for the suspects to enable them jump bail.
“I am appealing to Governor Sanwo-Olu to regulate and profile the activities of the professional sureties operating at the Igbosere Magistrate Court and other Courts in Lagos State to stop the incessant cases of suspects jumping bail,” Salisu added.
PM News’ investigation revealed that the ACR attached to the Igbosere Magistrates’ Court has been doing his best to control the activities of the professional sureties operating at the court to no avail.