BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
People of Sasa area of Osogbo, the Osun State capital, have been thrown into mourning following the killing of a middle-aged man, simply named Ridwan.
Ridwan, a commercial motorcyclist, was said to have been stabbed to death by some yet-to-be identified hoodlums who dispossessed him of his Bajaj motorcycle at the Ilesa Garage area of Osogbo while plying his trade.
It was gathered that after the deceased dropped off his passenger, some suspected men of the underworld waylaid and stabbed him with a weapon and rode his motorcycle away.
Ridwan reportedly bled to death at the scene of the attack.
When his remains were brought to his residence at Sasa community, UNIOSUN campus area, Osogbo for burial, our correspondent reported that the people of the area sobbed uncontrollably.
The deceased, described as an easy going man, was survived by his wife and children.
Meanwhile, men of the Osun State Police Command have arraigned a 30-year-old man, Jokotola Saheed, for allegedly stealing a Bajaj motorcycle belonging to his friend, Olawale Abass, in Osogbo.
Saheed, who was dragged before a Magistrate’s Court sitting in Osogbo, was accused of committing the offence alongside others who are now at large on November 9, at about 6:15am at California Street, Testing Ground area of Osogbo.
Inspector Kayode Adeoye, police prosecutor, informed the court that the defendant and others, armed with two cutlasses, one axe, two daggers, one mini sword and some charms, threatened to injure Abass.
They reportedly stole the motorcycle with number plate SGB 935 QJ, valued at N273, 000.
The offence is said to be contrary to and punishable under Sections 516, 86(1), 390(9), and 80 of the Criminal Code Cap 34 Volume II, Laws of Osun State, 2002.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the offence, explaining that he visited his friend (Abass) to sympathise with him on the loss of his motorcycle, when the victim turned round to accuse him of stealing the motorcycle.
Counsel to Saheed, Najite Okobe, applied for his bail, but Adeoye objected to the bail application on the grounds that the defendant would commit a similar offence if released on bail.
Magistrate O. A. Daramola rejected the prosecution’s objection and granted Saheed bail in the sum of N200, 000 with two sureties.
The magistrate said that one of the sureties must be a civil servant not below grade level 12 while the other must be one of the biological parents of the defendant.
The court said that the sureties must submit valid means of identification in court with three-year-tax clearance after which they must depose to affidavits.
Saheed was remanded at the Ilesa Correctional Centre till January 11, 2022 for hearing as he could not meet the bail conditions.