A 30-year-old man, Ogunjimi Opeyemi Mayowa, has been remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre.
Mayowa was remanded by Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court in Lagos, following his arraignment on charges of illegal possession of a firearm and live ammunition.
Mayowa was arraigned by the Department of State Services (DSS) on a three-count charge bordering on conspiracy and unlawful possession of a prohibited firearm and ammunition, contrary to provisions of the Firearms Act and the Criminal Code Act.
At the arraignment, the prosecuting counsel, Mr M.O. Bajela, informed the court that the defendant was arrested in June 2024 and urged the court to have the charge read to the defendant for him to enter his plea.
After the charge was read in open court, Mayowa pleaded not guilty to all three counts.
With no bail application filed by the defence, the prosecutor applied for a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendant pending trial.
Granting the request, Justice Aneke ordered that Mayowa be remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre and fixed November 6, 2025, for the commencement of trial.
According to court documents, Mayowa was arrested on June 11, 2024, by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) during a routine stop-and-search operation along the Lekki-Ajah corridor in Lagos.
He was reportedly onboard a commercial bus when officers discovered a locally made pistol and three live cartridges in his possession.
The suspect was later handed over to the DSS for further interrogation and prosecution.
In his confessional statement to the DSS, Mayowa claimed to be a member of the Gani Adams-led faction of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC).
He admitted that he acquired the locally fabricated pistol for N25,000 from a fellow OPC member known as “Solution Armani.”
He also confessed to purchasing each cartridge for N2,000.
Mayowa further revealed that the weapon was used during land-grabbing operations in Lagos and Ogun states.
He described his role in what he called ‘flushing’ and ‘pindown’ operations carried out by land grabbers.
‘Flushing operations’, he said, are executed during the day in collaboration with certain police officers who allegedly use their AK-47 rifles to forcefully evict occupants from disputed lands.
“The police usually leave in the evening, after which the boys take over the land,” he stated.
He explained that the ‘pindown’ phase involved maintaining continuous presence on the land, day and night, armed with personal weapons, to prevent any retaliatory attack from rival groups or aggrieved landowners.
On count one, Mayowa, alongside others said to be at large, were accused of conspiring to possess a prohibited firearm, one locally made pistol and three live cartridges, without a licence, an offence punishable under Section 316 of the Criminal Code Act.
The second count accused Mayowa of being in unlawful possession of a prohibited firearm, namely a locally made pistol, contrary to Section 3 and punishable under Section 27(1)(a) of the Firearms Act, Cap F28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 (as amended).