The Lagos State judiciary yesterday clarified that the redeployment of Magistrate Afolashade Botoku presiding over the collapsed Lekki Garden’s case from the Ebute-Meta Magistrate’s Court to another court was nothing but a usual re-deployment by the state judiciary.

It therefore described the exercise as ‘’an internal issue and exercise by the state judiciary.” This was disclosed by the Lagos State High Court Chief Registrar, Mr Emmanuel Ogundare, in a telephone chat with Vanguard. Ogundare who wondered why people were apprehensive of the redeployment of the Magistrate, said that the State Chief Judge reserves the statutory right to deploy any officer of the court to any  jurisdiction within the state. When reminded that the affected Magistrate was redeployed to a lower court, he insisted that ; “There was nothing unusual about that.”

The authorities was reported to have transferred Chief Magistrate Afolashade Botoku from the Ebute-Meta Magistrate’s Court for granting bail to the Managing Director of Lekki Gardens, Mr. Richard Nyong, on self recognition and admitting a contractor, Odofin Taiwo, to bail in the sum of N10 million before the expiration of a remand order she had earlier granted. About 35 people were killed after a building belonging to Lekki Gardens collapsed in the Lekki area of the state in March, following which the state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, ordered that Nyong and Taiwo be arrested if they failed to submit themselves to the police for prosecution.

Eventually the two men surrendered themselves to the State Department of Criminal Investigation. Ogundare also told Vanguard that; “It is a matter between an employer and the employee which does not lie within the public purview.

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