Teenager, adult were charged with armed robbery, says Lagos Justice Ministry

The Lagos State Ministry of Justice has clarified that a teenager and an adult, who were initially reported to have been detained over a pair of slippers, were instead charged and prosecuted for conspiracy to commit armed robbery. The clarification came in response to an online report alleging that the defendants were kept in custody over a pair of slippers similar to those belonging to the nominal complainant.

According to the Director of Public Prosecutions, Adebayo Haroun, the alleged crime involved a robbery where the complainant, Daniel Lucky Danjuma, was robbed of his phone and gold chain by a group that included the defendants. The case was initially assigned to Justice Adenike Coker of the Ikeja High Court but was later transferred to Justice Hakeem Oshodi in October 2025.

The defendants' pleas were taken on October 13, 2025, and their trial was scheduled to begin. The prosecution listed Danjuma and two police investigators as witnesses, but failed to secure Danjuma's attendance as his phone was unreachable. The prosecution proceeded with Inspector Martins, who testified about the incident. The complainant initially identified one of the defendants as one of his attackers and took the defendants to the police station.

However, the prosecution closed their case after efforts to secure another witness failed. The court, through Justice Oshodi, discharged the defendants after their counsel filed a no-case submission. The Ministry of Justice attributed the dismissal of the charges to the complainant's failure to appear in court and testify against the defendants.