Ekiti AG cautions against frivolous requests for nolle prosequi

The Ekiti State Government has expressed concern over increase
in the number of applications by victims of crimes, their relatives
and other interested persons seeking to discontinue prosecution of
suspects facing trial over serious offences.

The state’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr
Olawale Fapohunda, stressed the need for caution in exercising the
discretionary power of the Attorney General to discontinue
prosecution in the public interest.

He said, “All applications shall be subjected to proper review
and determined by merit on a case-by-case basis.”

According to him, discontinuation of prosecution of criminal
cases at the request of crime victims will no more be automatic in
the state “as all cases would be diligently prosecuted in the
interest of the public good.”

Fapohunda, in a statement in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday, said, “It
is more worrisome that subject matter of the applications often
request for stoppage of prosecution of the accused facing trial
over serious crimes such as murder, armed robbery, kidnapping,
cultism, rape and child defilement.

“Applications found to lack merit, unjust, abusive of court
process and against government’s policy on crime prevention shall
be denied.

“Victims of crime, their relations and other interested parties
must cooperate with the state as witnesses or in any other capacity
as may be required if their application for discontinuation of
prosecution was denied, otherwise they may be indicted for
compounding felony.”

Fapohunda, however, gave the assurance that applications found
meritorious would be granted unconditionally or conditionally in
line with the state policy on restitution, compensation and
plea-bargaining in criminal cases.