A prophetess, Folake Olasode, 35, and a schoolteacher, Damilola Aboloyinijo, 31, were on Monday arraigned before a Lagos State Magistrate Court sitting in Tinubu for allegedly preparing a fake charm of protection and obtaining N8m from their victim.
The duo are facing five counts of conspiracy, stealing, obtaining, unlawful assault, and breach of public peace, preferred against them by the police.
The Prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent of Police Francis Igbinosa, told the court that Olasode and Aboloyinijo, whose addresses were not given, allegedly committed the offences sometime in May 2024.
Igbinosa said the defendants conspired to commit the alleged offences.
He said the incident took place at 7A, Jide Agbalaya Street, Chevy-View, Lekki area of Lagos.
The prosecutor said that the defendants and others at large obtained the sum of N8m from one Sarah Umeh under the pretence that they prepared charms, and batter and put incisions on her and her three children for protection, a representative they knew to be false.
Igbinosa also told the court that the defendants unlawfully assaulted the complainant, Umeh and her three children by using a razor blade to put incisions on their bodies with a representation that they were protecting them from death.
The defendants were further accused of conducting themselves in a manner likely to cause a breach of the public peace by burning charms contained in a calabash in the compound of Umeh.
According to the prosecutor, the offences committed contravened Sections 411, 314, 287, 172, 287, and 168 (d) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2015.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the allegations against them.
However, the defendants’ counsel, Moses Enema, applied for their bail and urged the court to grant his clients bail in the most liberal terms, saying they were first-time offenders.
Consequently, Magistrate Aderemi Gbajumo granted them bail in the sum of N750,000 each with two sureties each in like sum.
Gbajumo said the sureties must have a valid means of livelihood and a valid means of identification.
She further ordered that they must provide evidence of Lagos State Residents’ Registration and verification of their addresses to be carried out by the prosecutor.
The matter was adjourned till October 14, 2024 for trial.
PUNCH
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