- Court Discharges Baba Adinni of Lagos, Upholds No-Case Submission
- Magistrate Paul Daramola held that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against the defendant
- Stressed that the appropriate venue for resolving the leadership dispute was the High Court
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 legal team.
Eko Hot Blog reports that Alabi-Macfoy was arraigned by the Commissioner of Police under Charge No. TB/34A/2025 on a one-count charge of disorderly conduct.
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The prosecution alleged that in February 2025, he unlawfully paraded himself as the Baba Adinni of the Lagos Central Mosque and disrupted public Ramadan lectures organised by the Chief Imam of the mosque, an offence said to be punishable under Section 168(1)(d) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
In his ruling, Magistrate Paul Daramola held that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case against the defendant despite calling seven witnesses and tendering 17 exhibits.
The court noted that the nominal complainant, the Chief Imam of Lagos Central Mosque, Sheikh Sulaimon Abu-Nola, never appeared before the court to testify, leaving the prosecution’s case largely dependent on hearsay evidence.
According to the magistrate, the evidence presented lacked direct links connecting Alabi-Macfoy to the alleged offence.
The court further observed significant contradictions in the testimonies of prosecution witnesses.
One of the lead investigators admitted during cross-examination that there was no direct correspondence between the original allegations and the charge eventually filed. He also confirmed that no Ramadan lecture took place in February 2025, as the event had already been suspended following a peace undertaking signed by the parties involved.
Another prosecution witness testified that the alleged disruptions occurred in 2024, contradicting the timeline stated in the charge sheet.
On the allegation that Alabi-Macfoy falsely presented himself as the Baba Adinni, the court held that identifying oneself with the title does not constitute a criminal offence.
The defence, led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Adekunle Oyesanya, tendered a letter dated February 11, 2026, from the Lagos State Ministry of Home Affairs, which officially addressed Alabi-Macfoy as the Baba Adinni of Lagos Central Mosque.
The magistrate also ruled that the dispute over the leadership and title within the Lagos Central Mosque was already the subject of ongoing litigation before the Federal High Court and therefore outside the jurisdiction of the Magistrates’ Court.
He stressed that the appropriate venue for resolving the leadership dispute was the High Court.
Concluding the matter, the court held that the prosecution failed to prove the essential elements of disorderly conduct or establish that the defendant acted with the intention of causing a breach of public peace.
Consequently, the court upheld the no-case submission and discharged Alabi-Macfoy.
