The four persons apprehended by the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos Police Command over the theft of 20 Direct Data Capturing (DDC) machines belonging to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) appeared at the Ikeja magistrate court yesterday .
On Tuesday, the trial of the suspects came to a halt as they were transferred from the Magistrate court 13 at the International Airport to the Ikeja due to the inclusion of a minor among the culprits.
Femisola Azeez, the Senior Magistrate scheduled to hear the case at the airport disclosed that minor will be tried at a juvenile court, adding that the suspects are to be transferred to the appropriate quarters.
The suspects which include Suleiman Isa, 17, Lawal Lateef, Bamidele Joshua, and one female, Sumonu Modupe, were arrested in the early hours of Friday December 10, 2010 by detectives from the MMIA force after discovering that the machines were moved out of the airport through the Shasha end of the airport.
Meanwhile, Rasaq Oyelade and Nwoche John, counsels to the suspects argued that they were surprised at the refusal of the judge to hear the case, as they stressed that the presence of a minor in the case should have waranted a separation of the suspects rather than referring them to a juvenile court.
It was gathered that the case of the adult suspects will be held at the Ikeja Magistrate Court 9, while that of the minor, however, is yet disclosed.
Source:http://234next.com/
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