Cow and Pickup Theft in Ekiti: Two Men Face Court
By: Abudu Olalekan
It was just another Tuesday at the Ado Ekiti Chief Magistrate Court. The air was thick with the usual humidity and the low murmur of legal proceedings. Just another day. But the case file on the magistrate’s desk told a different story. This one was a little… odd.
Two men stood before the court. Ojo Awe, a man of 45, and Bello Taofeeq, who was 30. They weren’t accused of some high-profile financial crime or a dramatic public brawl. Their alleged crime was, well, more rural. And also, very specific.
The police prosecutor, Inspector Akinwale Oriyomi, laid out the facts as he saw them. He spoke to the court about an incident that happened in the dead of night. September 9. The clock had just ticked past 1:35 a.m. a time when most of Ado Ekiti is sound asleep. But not these two, apparently. According to the prosecution, Ojo and Bello were found with some peculiar possessions. One live cow. And one Ford Pickup van, with the license plate BDU632ZB.
You just don’t find people walking around with a cow and a pickup truck at that hour without raising a few eyebrows. The police certainly thought so. Inspector Oriyomi told the court the items were “reasonably suspected to have been stolen.” It’s a formal way of saying, ‘this whole situation looks really fishy.’ The charge falls under Section 345 of the Criminal Law of Ekiti State 2021. A serious business.
The defendants’ lawyer, Olusoji Oladele, stood up to make his case. He wasn’t there to argue the facts, not yet. He just wanted his clients to be able to go home. He urged the court to grant them bail, making that solemn promise every defense lawyer makes. They won’t run. They wouldn’t jump bail, they were good for it.
Chief Magistrate Abayomi Adeosun listened. He weighed the arguments. Then, the decision came. Bail was set. The price for their temporary freedom? N200,000. And one surety who could match that amount. Oh, and they needed proof of tax payment. The system needs its paperwork. With that, the case was pushed down the calendar. Everyone will be back on October 28 to hash it out.
A Busy Season at the Ado Ekiti Court
And you know, this kind of thing has been happening a lot lately in Chief Magistrate Adeosun’s courtroom. Reportersroom recalls that just last week, another man was in the same spot, facing a similar charge. His name was Felix Bamisaye, 38 years old.
His alleged crime didn’t involve any livestock, though. It was all about a car. A Toyota Corolla, to be exact. The police said that on August 18, around 10 in the morning, Felix was found with this car, which also happened to be reasonably suspected of being stolen. The police were very specific, they had the chassis number and everything, which they read out in court.
And guess who the prosecutor was? The very same Inspector Akinwale Oriyomi. He stood in the same spot and cited the same law: Section 345 of the Criminal Law of Ekiti State 2021.
Felix’s lawyer, Michael Olaleye, did the same dance. He asked for bail, promising his client was no flight risk. And the outcome? Almost identical. Chief Magistrate Adeosun granted bail. The amount? N200,000, though this time with two sureties. Justice, it seems, has a rhythm. A routine.
Felix’s case is set to be heard again on October 16. Two different cases, two different sets of accused men, but a similar story unfolding in the slow, methodical halls of justice in Ekiti. One cow, two vehicles, and a legal system just trying to sort it all out.
