Herdsman docked for possession of human skull in Lagos

A herdsman, Mustapha Bakare, was on Wednesday in Lagos charged before an Ebute Meta Chief Magistrates’ Court for allegedly being in possession of a human skull.
Bakare, 35, who resides at Ijora-Badia, a Lagos suburb, is facing a charge of unlawful possession of a human skull.
The prosecutor, Inspector Richard Odigie, told the court that the offence was committed on May 10 at 1pm at White Sand Area of Orile-Iganmu, Lagos.
Odigie said the accused, who was tending his cows under the bridge at Orile-Iganmu, saw a decomposed human body.
He said: “The accused went back to the same spot and removed the skull from the body and two eyewitnesses confronted him in the process.
“One of the eyewitnesses raised an alarm when the accused was putting the skull in a sack.”
According to Odigie, the offence contravened Section 236 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Counsel to the accused, Spurgeon Ataene, and O.B Otighi, urged the court to grant him bail.
In her ruling, the Chief Magistrate, Mrs E.B. Daodu, granted the accused bail in the sum of N200,000 with two sureties in like sum.
Daodu also directed that one of the sureties should pay N50,000 into the account of the court’s chief registrar, while the other surety should produce evidence of three years tax payment to the state government as part of the bail conditions.
The case was adjourned to August 8 for mention.