An Oyo State High Court, sitting at Ring Road on Monday, granted bail to the former queen of the Ooni of Ife, Naomi Silekunola over the December Funfair Stampede in Ibadan.
The bail also applied to broadcaster and Chief Executive Officer of Agidigbo Radio FM, Ibadan, Oriyomi Hamzat, and the Principal of Islamic High School, Abdulahi Fasasi.
Presiding over Court 8, Justice K.B. Olawoyin made the ruling following a bail application filed by the counsel for the three individuals.
The judge set five conditions for the bail, including a N10 million bond and two sureties who must provide landed property documents within the court’s jurisdiction.
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Additional conditions stipulate that the applicants must deposit their international passports with the court and are prohibited from granting any interviews during the pendency of the case.
The defendants had been held in prison custody since December 24 following their arrest by the police.
The Oyo State Government had filed eight charges, including murder and manslaughter, against the trio in relation to the December 18, 2024, funfair stampede, which resulted in the deaths of 35 children.
In the charges, the government accused the defendants of “conspiracy to commit a felony, namely murder, manslaughter, conspiracy to commit an offence, namely criminal negligence, and criminal negligence.”
Speaking to journalists, Oriyomi’s counsel, Adekunle Sobaloju, confirmed that the court had agreed to the bail application.
Sobaloju said, “We filed an application requesting that he be admitted to bail pending arraignment, and the application was argued today.
“The court listened to all the various arguments, and the ruling was reserved until the 13th of January. So principally, we are asserting that he ought to be granted bail based on certain grounds, which I would not want to elaborate on here.”
