A dispute over how criminal charges were reduced after an alleged violent encounter has placed prosecutorial discretion under scrutiny in Ogun State. The complainant says the DPP’s own findings supported more serious allegations, while the Attorney-General insists the evidence justified assault charges rather than armed robbery.
An Ogun State businessman, Ashiru Azeez, has petitioned the state’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Oluwasina Ogungbade, asking for a review of legal advice issued by the Directorate of Public Prosecutions in a criminal case involving alleged assault, theft and related offences.
Azeez, through his lawyer Ayodeji Ifonlaja, contends that the DPP’s February 24 legal advice acknowledged that he and other persons were attacked and dispossessed of valuables, but that several charges initially contemplated by police were ultimately omitted.
The lawyer said police had initially formulated about nine counts arising from their investigation but that the prosecution eventually proceeded mainly with assault-related allegations.
He is asking the Attorney-General to review whether the charges adequately reflect the evidence contained in the police case file.
The Attorney-General has rejected the suggestion that the case was improperly reduced.
Ogungbade told Punch that the incident arose from a land dispute and that, based on the material available to prosecutors, the circumstances did not support an armed-robbery charge.
He emphasised that prosecutors possess discretion to determine the offences that should be charged based on the available facts and the interests of justice.
The dispute therefore raises a wider criminal-law issue beyond the immediate parties: how far prosecutorial discretion extends when a complainant believes that the evidence supports more serious charges than those selected by the DPP.
No court has determined that the DPP acted improperly, and the allegations against the persons involved in the underlying incident remain subject to the criminal process.
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SOURCE:
Punch — Ogun Businessman Protests Alleged Dropping of Charges
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