A Lagos Magistrates’ Court sitting in Tinubu, Yaba Magisterial District, has discharged the Baba Adinni of Lagos, Alhaji Sikiru Alabi-Macfoy, after upholding a no-case submission filed by his defence team.
Alabi-Macfoy was arraigned by the Commissioner of Police in Charge No. TB/34A/2025 on a one-count charge of disorderly conduct.
The prosecution alleged that, on or before February 2025, Alabi-Macfoy paraded himself as the Baba Adinni of the Lagos Central Mosque and disrupted the public Ramadan lectures of the substantive Chief Imam, an offence said to be punishable under Section 168(1)(d) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
Delivering ruling in the matter, the presiding magistrate, Paul Daramola, evaluated the evidence presented by the prosecution, which had closed its case after calling seven witnesses and tendering 17 exhibits.
The court held that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against the defendant.
Magistrate Daramola noted that the nominal complainant, the Chief Imam of Lagos Central Mosque, Sheikh Sulaimon Abu-Nola, was absent throughout the proceedings and did not testify before the court.
Although the court observed that the complainant’s appearance was not strictly compulsory, it held that the prosecution’s reliance on third-party narratives weakened its case.
“The evidence presented before this court is anchored heavily on hearsay,” the magistrate held, adding that the exhibits tendered were not supported by direct evidence linking the defendant to the alleged offence.
The court further found that the prosecution failed to establish any connection between Alabi-Macfoy and the alleged criminal acts.
According to the court, cross-examination of prosecution witnesses exposed material contradictions in the state’s case.
One of the police investigators admitted under cross-examination that there was no correspondence between the initial allegations and the charge filed before the court. The investigator also confirmed that no Ramadan lecture actually took place in February 2025, as the event had been suspended a week earlier following an undertaking signed by the parties to maintain peace.
Another prosecution witness also admitted under cross-examination that the alleged disruptions he referred to occurred in 2024, contrary to the 2025 timeline contained in the charge sheet.
On the allegation that the defendant paraded himself as Baba Adinni, the court held that presenting oneself under the religious title was not, by itself, a criminal offence.
The defence team, led by Adekunle Oyesanya, SAN, had argued that the Lagos State Government recognised Alabi-Macfoy’s title. The defence tendered a letter dated February 11, 2026, from the Ministry of Home Affairs, addressed to him as the “Baba Adinni of Lagos Central Mosque.”
The court also noted that the underlying dispute over leadership, elections and titles at the Lagos Central Mosque was already the subject of litigation before the Federal High Court.
“This court cannot dive into matters that are already pending before the Federal High Court,” the magistrate held, describing any attempt to resolve the leadership tussle before the Magistrates’ Court as improper.
“It will be better that these allegations and leadership arguments be made before the High Court,” the court added.
In conclusion, the magistrate held that the prosecution had the duty to prove the essential ingredients of disorderly conduct, including that the alleged act was committed with intent to cause a breach of public peace.
The court ruled that the prosecution failed to discharge that burden and that no prima facie case had been made out to warrant calling the defendant to enter his defence.
Alabi-Macfoy was consequently discharged.
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