The Lagos State High Court has ruled that Tajudeen Akanbi, the third defendant standing trial over the killing of two residents of Ajiran, Eti-Osa Local Government Area, is barred from filing any further application similar to the one his lawyers had brought before the court’s vacation judges, and must instead present his case before the substantive trial judge.
The ruling was delivered on Thursday, August 27, 2026, by Hon. Justice A.M. Ipaye, sitting at Court No. 51, Fast Track/Commercial Division, Tapa Courthouse, in Suit No. LD/28350C/2026, The State of Lagos v. Shafi Fatai, Yusuf Ismaila and Hammed Tajudeen Akanbi.
According to the certified true copy of the proceedings, all three defendants were absent from court.
O.T. Ojerinde, with Dr. Dayo Ashonibare and Adetura Mariam, appeared for Akanbi, the third defendant/applicant, while Jibril Kareem appeared for the prosecution.
Counsel for Akanbi informed the court of a motion ex parte, dated August 24, 2026, seeking the court’s leave to be heard during the 2026 long vacation.
WhatsApp Scan 2026-08-31 at 11.47.32.pdf
The court, however, noted that the same application had already been placed before two vacation judges prior to the August 27 sitting. The first vacation judge, on July 22, 2026, dismissed the application, while the second vacation judge struck it out.
Justice Ipaye ruled that Akanbi is not permitted to bring the same or a similar application again, directing that he go before the substantive judge handling the case instead.
“The Applicant is not permitted to bring same similar application again. They are to go before the Substantive Judge,” the court held.
Multiple Bail Attempts
SaharaReporters had earlier reported that Akanbi’s lawyers approached at least four different judges of the Lagos State High Court with bail-related applications between June and August 2026, prompting a vacation court to characterise the pattern as an abuse of court process.
The proceedings trace back to a June 25, 2026 remand order by Justice A.T. Muyideen, directing that Akanbi be held at the Ikoyi Minimum Custodial Centre after the court found that the police had exhausted the constitutionally permissible period for keeping him in custody.
That order was complicated by correctional officials’ refusal to admit Akanbi over his medical condition, resulting in an interim arrangement under which police continued to take him for treatment while the remand order remained in force.
On July 3, when all three defendants were arraigned, Akanbi’s counsel relied on an Affidavit of Urgency in support of a bail application before Justice Muyideen, who reaffirmed his earlier remand order and adjourned the substantive matter to November 3, 5, 10, 19 and 25, 2026.
Despite that pending matter, a separate bail application was filed before Justice Olumuyiwa O. Martins, who, in a July 22 ruling, held that the fresh application was unnecessary and amounted to an attempt to undermine Justice Muyideen’s orders. The application was denied and dismissed.
On August 6, Akanbi’s lawyers approached Justice S.I. Sonaike with another bail application, which was struck out on the ground that the same application was already before Justice Muyideen.
A day later, on August 7, Justice O.L. Alebiosu, considering a separate fundamental rights suit and bail application at the Ikeja Judicial Division, discovered through the Judicial Information System that a substantive case was already pending before Justice Muyideen and declined to rule on the bail question separately, citing the risk of conflicting decisions.
Akanbi is standing trial alongside Shafi Fatai and Yusuf Ismaila over the deaths of Sheriff Ishola Salami, reportedly killed in Moba, Eti-Osa, on April 18, 2023, and Prince Kazeem Ademola Akinloye, reportedly assassinated along Chevron Road on August 26, 2024.