Oyo State government has withdrawn the criminal case against Oriyomi Hamzat, Naomi Silekunola, and Fasasi Abdullahi Fasasi in connection with the tragic stampede that occurred at Islamic High School Bashorun in December 2024.
Gatekeepers News reports that this announcement was made by Abiodun Aikomo, the Commissioner of Justice and Attorney-General of Oyo State, during a press briefing on Wednesday.
The Ibadan High Court subsequently struck out the case following its withdrawal by the Attorney-General.
The three individuals—Hamzat, who is the CEO of Agidigbo FM; Silekunola, the former wife of the Ooni of Ife; and Abdullahi, the principal of the Islamic High School—were implicated in the stampede during a funfair in Ibadan that resulted in the deaths of over 30 people, many of whom were children.
Initially, they were remanded at the Agodi Correctional Facility but were granted bail on January 14, set at N10 million with two sureties of the same amount. In January, the Oyo State government had filed an 18-count criminal charge against them, which included allegations of conspiracy to commit murder, manslaughter, and criminal negligence.
During the court session, Aikomo noted that the decision to withdraw the case was influenced by the suspects’ display of empathy and compassion regarding the incident.
“It was an unfortunate incident that led to the death of many. And you see, in law, whenever death occurs in circumstances that are not natural, the law will take its course. So the state responded by filing charges against the persons implicated in the investigation,” Aikomo said.
“In the course of doing that, we actually wanted to prosecute but the affected persons showed empathy. They showed compassion. And as far as human beings can do, they try to persuade the feelings of the affected parties.
“And the circumstance, we felt, the essence of prosecution is not to kill people or persecute them.
“It is in the interest of justice to discontinue these charges, and that is what happened today. So we withdrew the charge and it was struck out by the court. There is no charge against them again, so they are free.”
Also speaking, Abdulwaheed Olajide, counsel to Fasasi, said the families of the victims and the defendants reached an agreement to settle the matter out of court.
“The good thing is that the defendants as well as the state met and considered wider implication of the case and decided to put a stop to it so that it will not send a wrong signal to the larger society because if the crisis is allowed to persist, you will discover that men of goodwill will be running away from Oyo state. Just to run away from such, the two sides decided to find an amicable solution,” Olajide said.
“They were brought into the picture, they were appealed to and they were made to understand that this is a thing that happened as a result of an accident which can happen anytime.
“It is beyond human control. So they agreed with us… and we said we can still go ahead and show empathy to the families of the deceased.
“The state appreciated that and in consequence decided to withdraw the charges against the defendants.
“We thank God, we all went to the river and we came back with our pots full of water to quench the thirst of each and every one of us.”
