An Ile-Ife Magistrates’ Court in Osun State has remanded a driver, identified as Lasisi Sodiq, for allegedly crushing a student of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) to death, News About Nigeria reports.
Sodiq was remanded on Monday after the magistrate, Mrs. Abosede Sarumi, in a bench ruling, gave the order for him to be held at the correctional centre, pending bail application.
She also ordered the defence counsel, Mr. Leke Dada, to file a formal application for his client’s bail.
The 28-year-old driver was charged with driving against traffic law, reckless driving, driving without a license, manslaughter, and driving without a certificate of insurance.
Earlier on, the prosecutor, ASP Akintunde Jacob, told the court that the defendant committed the offences on the 22nd of August at 10.30 a.m., opposite OAU main campus, under pedestrian bridge Ife/Ibadan Road, Ile-Ife.
Jacob stated that the defendant drove a Lexus Car with Registration No. ABJ 427 LQ on a public highway without adherence to traffic laws, adding that the defendant drove dangerously and without a certificate of insurance.
According to him, the defendant drove recklessly and caused the death of the late Esu Ema, a student of OAU, Ile-Ife.
The prosecutor said that the offences contravened Section 18 Cap 146. Vol 2, Laws of Osun, and Section 7 of the Road Traffic Law, Vol 6, Cap 115, Laws of Osun, 2002.
He said that the offences also contravened Sections 21(b), 27, 139, and 142 of the Road Traffic Act, Cap 548, Laws of Nigeria, 2015.
The defendant, however, pleaded not guilty.
The magistrate adjourned the case until the 2nd of October for mention.
