The Lagos State Ministry of Justice has clarified that a teenager and an adult recently reported to have been detained over a pair of slippers were actually charged and prosecuted over alleged conspiracy to commit robbery and armed robbery.
The clarification was contained in a rejoinder issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Adebayo Haroun, concerning charge number ID/22014C/23.
Haroun said the defendants were charged under Sections 299 and 297(2) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015, following allegations that they were members of a group that robbed a man of an iPhone 13 Pro Max and a gold chain.
The case was initially assigned to Justice Adenike Coker after the information was filed on May 31, 2023, but was later transferred to Justice Hakeem Oshodi in October 2025 following Coker’s national assignment.
The defendants pleaded to the charges on October 13, 2025, after which the matter proceeded to trial.
According to the DPP, the prosecution listed the alleged robbery victim, Daniel Lucky Danjuma, and two police investigators, ASP Dolapo and Inspector Omozuafo Martins, as witnesses.
Haroun said repeated efforts to secure Danjuma’s attendance in court were unsuccessful because his telephone was unreachable.
The prosecution consequently commenced its case with Inspector Martins, who testified on December 10, 2025, about how the complainant arrested the defendants and took them to the Ikeja Police Station.
According to the account attributed to the complainant, he and a friend boarded a “one-chance” bus on November 27, 2022, and were later allowed to alight at National Bus Stop near Oshodi.
He allegedly told police that he was subsequently attacked by men armed with a cutlass and a gun and robbed of his iPhone 13 Pro Max and a gold chain.
Haroun said the complainant returned to the area the following day and allegedly found one of the defendants wearing his palm slippers.
The complainant allegedly identified the man as one of his attackers and took the first and second defendants to the police station.
After efforts to secure another witness failed, the prosecution closed its case.
The defendants, through their lawyers, subsequently filed a no-case submission.
Justice Oshodi delivered judgment on September 29, 2026, upholding the no-case submission and discharging the defendants.
Haroun attributed the outcome to the failure of the nominal complainant to appear in court and testify.
He said the prosecution could not manufacture evidence where a key witness failed to appear.
The DPP therefore rejected the portrayal of the case as one in which the defendants were detained simply because of a pair of slippers.
“It is therefore not true that the defendants were detained because of a pair of slippers but were alleged to have robbed the nominal complainant with dangerous weapons,” Haroun said.
The ministry’s clarification means that while the slippers featured in the complainant’s alleged identification of one defendant, the charges before the court were conspiracy to commit robbery and armed robbery.
The defendants were ultimately discharged after the court upheld their no-case submission.
