Court finally sends NURTW Chieftain Koko Zaria to prison for ass@ulting veteran actor, Baba Lawori

On Thursday, September 5, a Lagos Chief Magistrate Court placed Ganiyu Oyedepo, also known as Koko Zaria, a leader of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), under arrest for attacking actor Baba Lawori.

Pmnewsblog reported in July that the Yoruba actor had cried out to Nigerians for help over a brutal attack from one of the aides of Koko Zaria. He recounted how he was performing as a Master of Ceremony at an event when a stranger approached him, claiming that Koko Zaria wanted to see him, unknowingly that it was a set-up. When he arrived, Koko Zaria questioned why he didn’t acknowledge him. Baba Lawori had apologised, promising to make corrections, when one of his associates smashed a bottle on his head, and he was covered in his blôod and lost consciousness.

The Nigeria police said it would investigate the assault, and they kept to their words, as Chief Magistrate B Sonuga remanded Koko Zaria after he pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him by the operatives of the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (FCIID). The prosecutor, Morufu Animashaun, a legal officer in the legal department of FCIID, Alagbon said in a charge marked B/40/2024, told the court that the defendant committed the offences on June 5, 2024 at Idimu, by conspiring with some of his boys to assault Lawori in the head with a bottle, which led to an injury.

The protege of MC Oluomo denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty to the charges. His lawyers, S. Bello and S.O Ajetomobi, moved for bail application, saying the charge against their client is a bailable one. They urged the court to grant him bail in the most liberal terms.

Chief Magistrate Sonuga, after hearing counsels’ submissions, grated Oyedepo bail in the sum of N2 million with two sureties in like sum. The sureties must be of unquestionable character with evidence of means of livelihood and reside within the court’s jurisdiction.

The Chief Magistrate also ordered the sureties to present to court evidence of three years tax and have their addresses verified. The Chief Magistrate, however, remanded the defendant in the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS) custody, pending the perfection of bail terms.