CHSR said petitions submitted by groups, including the Centre for Citizens Rights Protection (CCRP), had prompted the Office of the Chief Judge of Lagos State to request the case file for administrative review.
The Centre for Human and Socio-Economic Rights (CHSR) has called for the resumption of murder trials involving Alhaji Ahmed Tajudeen Akanbi and other defendants, saying repeated administrative reviews of the case file have disrupted proceedings at the Lagos High Court.
At a press conference in Lagos on Sunday, CHSR President Comrade Alex Omotehinse said the defendants were standing trial over the murders of two members of the Ajiran community in Eti-Osa Local Government Area: youth leader Sheriff Ishola Salami, killed on April 18, 2023, and Prince Kazeem Ademola Akinloye, son of the Ojomu of Ajiranland, killed on August 26, 2024.
CHSR said petitions submitted by groups, including the Centre for Citizens Rights Protection (CCRP), had prompted the Office of the Chief Judge of Lagos State to request the case file for administrative review.
The organisation said the petitions alleged bias against the trial judge, Justice A. T. Muyideen, and that an earlier review had cleared the judge.
According to CHSR, a petition dated June 29, 2026, led to the file being recalled for review. The group said a second petition was submitted on August 3, and that on September 18, as counsel and others gathered for a scheduled hearing, they were informed that the file had again been requested for assessment.
CHSR said the Chief Judge had the authority to oversee judicial administration and address petitions, but argued that repeatedly retrieving the file while the trial was underway had stalled its progress and caused concern among the victims’ families and the public.
“The repeated retrieval of the file from a court actively sitting on the matter has inadvertently halted the progression of the trial,” Omotehinse said.
The group also alleged that public protests, media campaigns and petitions had promoted misleading accounts of the case and sought to portray the principal defendant as a victim. Those claims were not independently verified in the material supplied.
CHSR said questions had also arisen over Akanbi’s custody after he was remanded to Ikoyi Correctional Centre and later transferred to a medical facility over health concerns. The group called for official information about his health and current custody arrangements, saying transparency was needed to maintain public confidence and confirm compliance with court orders.
The organisation cited the constitutional right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time and argued that criminal proceedings should be conducted openly. It said the trial should be allowed to proceed so evidence can be assessed through the court process.
“We demand that evidence be allowed for open evaluation through legitimate judicial process,” Omotehinse said.
CHSR urged the relevant authorities to clarify the reasons for the repeated file recalls and the defendant’s custody status, and called for the trial to resume. Its statement did not include responses from the Chief Judge’s office, the trial court, CCRP or the defendants. The allegations and legal arguments made by CHSR have not been determined by the court.
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