Korede Abdullah 
Lagos State Attorney-General, Mr. Lawal Pedro
LAGOS, Nigeria — The Lagos State Ministry of Justice has clarified that a teenager and an adult recently reported to have been detained over a pair of slippers were prosecuted for alleged conspiracy to commit robbery and armed robbery.
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Adebayo Haroun, made the clarification in a rejoinder issued on Friday concerning charge number ID/22014C/23.
Haroun said the defendants were charged under Sections 299 and 297(2) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
He said they were accused of belonging to a gang that robbed Daniel Lucky Danjuma of an iPhone 13 Pro Max and a gold chain.
The clarification followed an online report claiming that the defendants were detained after one of them was allegedly found wearing slippers similar to those belonging to Danjuma.
How the Lagos Robbery Case Started
According to Haroun, the case was initially assigned to Justice Adenike Coker of the Ikeja High Court after the information was filed on May 31, 2023.
The case was later transferred to Justice Hakeem Oshodi in October 2025 after Coker took up a national assignment.
Haroun said the defendants pleaded not guilty on October 13, 2025.
The prosecution then listed Danjuma and two police investigators, ASP Dolapo and Inspector Omozuafo Martins, as witnesses.
However, repeated efforts to secure Danjuma’s attendance in court were unsuccessful because his telephone was unreachable.
“The prosecuting team was unable to secure his attendance as his phone was unreachable,” Haroun said.
Complainant Fails to Testify
Haroun said the prosecution subsequently relied on Inspector Martins, who testified on December 10, 2025, about the circumstances surrounding the defendants’ arrest and their transfer to the Ikeja Police Station.
According to the DPP, Danjuma told police that he and a friend boarded a “one-chance” bus on November 27, 2022.
He alleged that they were attacked by men armed with a cutlass and a gun.
The attackers allegedly stole his iPhone and gold chain.
Haroun said Danjuma returned to the area the following day and allegedly saw one of the defendants wearing his palm slippers.
According to the DPP, the slippers led Danjuma to identify the defendant as one of the alleged attackers.
The prosecution later closed its case after failing to secure another witness.
The defendants subsequently filed a no-case submission, asking the court to rule that there was insufficient evidence requiring them to defend themselves.
Court Discharges Defendants
Justice Oshodi upheld the no-case submission and discharged the defendants on September 29, 2026.
Haroun said the ruling followed the failure of the nominal complainant to testify in court. “The nominal complainant who identified the defendants as part of the gang that attacked him did not come to court to testify in this case. As such, the evidence to link the defendants with the crime was unavailable,” he said.
The DPP therefore rejected the suggestion that the defendants had been detained simply because of a pair of slippers. “It is therefore not true that the defendants were detained because of a pair of slippers but were alleged to have robbed the nominal complainant with dangerous weapons,” Haroun said.
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