The police on Friday charged three men before an Iyaganku Chief Magistrates’ Court for allegedly belonging to an unlawful society and possession of a locally made gun.
The defendants, Okunade Habeeb, 25, Raji Wasiu, 30, and Junaid Afeez, 25, are facing a four-count charge of conspiracy, belonging to unlawful society, breach of peace, and unlawful possession of a firearm.
The prosecutor, Cpl. Akeem Akinloye, said the defendants committed the offenses on Nov. 4, 2024, and Jan. 23, at about 11 p.m at Eruwa and the Polytechnic area of Ibadan.
He said the defendants conducted themselves in a manner likely to cause a breach of peace by trying to initiate new members into Eye Confraternity, an unlawful society.
The prosecutor said the defendants gathered unlawfully in a forest at Eruwa to hold a meeting.
He said that on Nov. 4, 2024, the first defendant, Habeeb, was caught with a locally fabricated gun with six cartridges.
Akinloye said Okunade could not give a satisfactory account of how he got the gun.
He said the offenses contravened Sections 64(a) 249(D) 430 and 516 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Oyo State, 2000.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Their counsel, Mr. Idowu Adebayo, urged the court to grant bail to the defendants.
The Chief Magistrate, Mrs. Olabisi Ogunkanmi, admitted them to bail in the sum of N200,000 each with two sureties each in like sum.
Ogunkanmi ordered that one of the sureties for each defendant must be a blood relation.
She, thereafter, adjourned the matter until March 27 for hearing.(NAN)
