The Oyo State Government has withdrawn the criminal charges against popular broadcaster and Chairman of Agidigbo FM, Hamzat Oriyomi, Ooni of Ife ex-wife, Naomi Silekunola, and the head teacher of Islamic High School, Basorun, Ibadan, Abdullahi Fasasi, over the stampede that led to the death of 35 children.  

Recall that the incident occurred following a stampede at a funfair at the school organised by Ms Silekunola and promoted by Mr Oriyomi’s radio station based in Ibadan. The event had yet to commence before the casualties led to its suspension by the state government and the trio were arrested for prosecution.

The state’s Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General, Abiodun Aikomo disclosed this to journalists on Wednesday after the Ibadan Division of the Oyo High Court struck out the case. 

Mr Aikomo said the three defendants in the case, who were standing trial for their alleged roles in the stampede that led to the death of 35 children, showed empathy and compassion. 

He stated, “It is in the interest of justice to discontinue these charges, and that is what happened today. So we withdrew the charge and it was struck out by the court. There is no charge against them again, so they are free,” he said. 

Describing the stampede as an unfortunate incident, Mr Aikomo said that whenever death occurred in unnatural circumstances; the law would take its course. 

He explained that the state government led by Governor Seyi Makinde initially responded to the cry by people for justice by filing charges against the trio implicated in the investigation.

“In the course of doing that, we actually wanted to prosecute but the affected persons showed empathy. They showed compassion. And as far as human beings can do, they try to persuade the feelings of the affected parties. And the circumstances, we felt, the essence of prosecution is not to kill people or persecute them,” the commissioner noted.  

Also, Counsel to Fasasi, Abdulwaheed Olajide, stated that the victims’ families and the defendants reached an agreement on out-of-court settlement.

Mr Olajide said the two sides decided to find an ‘amicable solution’ to avoid sending a wrong signal and avoid a wider implication of the case. 

He said, “The good thing is that the defendants as well as the state met and considered the wider implication of the case. They decided to put a stop to it so that it will not send a wrong signal to the larger society because if the crisis is allowed to persist, you will discover that men of goodwill will be running away from Oyo state. They were brought into the picture, they were appealed to and they were made to understand that this is a thing that happened as a result of an accident which can happen anytime. It is beyond human control. So they agreed with us… and we said we can still go ahead and show empathy to the families of the deceased.”

The trio were charged with an 18-count criminal charge, including conspiracy to commit murder, manslaughter, criminal negligence, and other related charges. 

They were later remanded at the Agodi correctional facility before granted N10 million bail on January 14 and two sureties in like sum.