A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has adjourned till March 3, the arraignment of the 10 persons accused of torturing three women at the Oba Morufu International Market in Ejigbo, a suburb of Lagos, sometime in February 2013.

Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye announced the adjournment on Monday following the absence of nine of the 10 suspects in court.

The suspects are to be arraigned by the Lagos State Government on 19 counts bordering on “conspiracy, attempted murder, sexual assault, malicious administering of poison, obtaining money by false pretences and deprivation of liberty.”

They are Isiaka Waidi Saheed Adisa, Lateef Tijani , Ahmed Adisa, Azeez Akinosun, Jimoh Busari, Adekunle Adenuga, Buhari Yusuf, Abdullahi Harun and Oloruntoyin Dauda.

The suspects were charged to court for their involvement in the torture and molestation of three women in Ejigbo.

They reportedly stripped the victims naked and rubbed pepper, an obnoxious substance, on their private parts on the purported claim that the victims stole pepper.

The prosecution also alleged that the suspects inserted sticks into the women’s private parts.

They were also accused of obtaining the sum of N50,000 from one Fima Agomo, who is a relative of the victims, on the claim that the money would be used to repay the traders whose pepper were purportedly stolen.

When the matter came up in court on Monday, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mrs. Idowu Alakija, informed the court that all the suspects had been admitted to bail by a magistrate court and were probably not aware of the proceedings.

Alakija, therefore, asked for an adjournment to enable the prosecution to personally serve the defendants with the charge.

The judge, while acceding to the request, ordered that the DPP should ensure that all the suspects were in court on the next adjournment date.

The judge also directed the Zonal Director of the Legal Aid Council to provide representation for the defendants in order to accelerate hearing of the case.

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