A Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday ordered the remand of a 30-year-old man, Ogunjimi Mayowa, at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre over charges of illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke issued the remand order following Mayowa’s arraignment by the Department of State Services on three counts bordering on conspiracy, unlawful possession of a locally-made pistol and three live cartridges.
At the defendant’s arraignment, the prosecution counsel, Mr. M.O. Bajela, informed the court of the pending charges and requested that they be read to the defendant for his plea to be taken.
Bajela told the court Mayowa was arrested on June 11, 2024, during a stop-and-search operation conducted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency while in a public bus along the Lekki-Ajah corridor in Lagos.
The prosecutor said he was found in possession of a locally made pistol and three live cartridges, without a licence.
Bajela told the court that the NDLEA later transferred him to the DSS for further investigation and prosecution.
He told the court that the defendant conspired with others and was in illegal possession of a firearm, one locally made pistol and three live cartridges without a licence.
With no bail application filed by the defence, Bajela requested the court to fix a date for the trial and remand the defendant in custody pending the commencement of proceedings.
Justice Aneke granted the request and adjourned the matter to November 6, 2025, for trial.
In a confessional statement to the DSS, Mayowa reportedly claimed to be a member of the Gani Adams faction of the Oodua People’s Congress.
He admitted purchasing the pistol for N25,000 and the cartridges for N2,000 each from a fellow OPC member identified only as “Solution Armani.”
Mayowa further disclosed that the weapon was used during land-grabbing operations across Lagos and Ogun states.
According to him, the operations were categorised into two types: “flushing” and “pindown.”
He alleged that the “flushing” operations, which typically occurred during the day, involved police officers who used their AK-47 rifles to dislodge occupants from targeted lands.
After the police left in the evening, Mayowa said, the “boys” would remain behind to secure the land a stage he referred to as the “pindown” operation.
He claimed the arms were used for self-defence in the event of retaliation.
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