TEEN: The Lagos State Ministry of Justice has responded to widespread reports that a teenager and another defendant spent years in custody after a dispute over a pair of slippers.
The Directorate of Public Prosecutions said the defendants were not prosecuted for possessing similar slippers, but were formally charged with conspiracy to commit robbery and armed robbery under Sections 299 and 297(2) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.
According to the ministry, the complainant had alleged that he was attacked and robbed of an iPhone 13 Pro Max and a gold chain. He reportedly identified one of the defendants the following day after seeing him wearing slippers he believed were his.
But the prosecution encountered a fundamental evidential problem.
The complainant did not appear in court to testify despite repeated efforts to secure his attendance. Prosecutors eventually closed their case after presenting one investigating police officer.
The defendants filed a no-case submission, which Justice O.H. Oshodi upheld on September 29, resulting in their discharge.
The clarification does not erase the serious public-interest question raised by the case: how defendants remained caught in the criminal-justice system for years before a prosecution unable to produce its principal witness finally ended.
It also demonstrates why the distinction between an allegation, a charge, and proof beyond reasonable doubt remains fundamental to criminal justice.
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SOURCE: Lagos State Ministry of Justice — Official Rejoinder
