There was pandemonium inside a court room at the Ejigbo Magistrate Court in Lagos, as lawyers, litigants and spectators scampered for safety on Thursday when an investigating police officer, IPO, tendered a live Python as an exhibit.
Funny enough, the prosecutor, Oladejo Balogun refused to accept the snake as exhibit. He hurriedly made an oral application asking the court to order the IPO to return the Python to their custody for safety reasons. He complained that he had no place to keep it and also does not know the type of food it eats.
The policeman in turn disclosed that they were tired of keeping the snake since the arrest of the suspects last Saturday and asked the court to accept and keep it as an exhibit.
The police had brought two suspected fraudsters, Kayode Oseni, 42 and Jamiu Adeyemi, 37 along with the snake as the exhibit which they allegedly planted in a house of a complainant, Alhaji Jelili Kuku to defraud him.
It was gathered that the defendants had gone to Alhaji Kuku’s house at 14, Foursquare Street, Ikotun, Lagos and planted the snake and pretended to conducting deliverance prayers for him.
They blamed all his woes on the demon inside his house. After their arrest, they allegedly confessed to the police that they took the action to defraud the Alhaji.
They had hoped to bring the snake from where they hid it in his house while they pretended to be praying for him in order to extort money from him.
They had earlier allegedly extorted N40,000 from him to buy a ram for sacrifice, which they claimed would save his life.
However, they were unlucky as they didn't know that Alhaji Kuku saw them while they were planting the snake. He immediately invited the police who arrested them.
The defendants were docked on a two-count charge of fraud and stealing contrary to and punishable under sections 419 and 390 of the Criminal Code Cap 17 Vol. 2 Laws of Lagos State, 2003.
They pleaded not guilty to the charges. The presiding magistrate, Mrs. M. B. Folami granted them bail in the sum of N500,000 each with two sureties each in like sum.
She adjourned the matter till March 14, 2012, for further hearing and ordered the police to return the snake to their exhibit room till the next adjourned date.
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