Lagos Central Mosque Dispute: Court dismisses case against Baba Adinni

A Lagos Magistrates’ Court sitting in Tinubu, Yaba Magisterial District, has discharged Baba Adinni of Lagos, Alh. Sikiru Alabi-Macfoy after upholding a ‘No Case Submission’ filed by his defence team.

Alabi-Macfoy had been arraigned by the Commissioner of Police under Charge No: TB/34A/2025 on a one-count charge of disorderly conduct.

The prosecution alleged that on or before February 2025.

Alabi-Macfoy paraded himself as the Baba Adinni of the Lagos Central Mosque and disrupted the public Ramadan lectures of the substantive Chief Imam, an offence punishable under Section 168 (1)(d) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.

Delivering judgment in the case, the presiding magistrate, Paul Daramola,  evaluated the evidence presented by the prosecution, which closed its case after calling seven witnesses (PW1 to PW7) and tendering 17 exhibits.

The court observed a striking lack of substance in the state’s case, noting that the nominal complainant, the Chief Imam of Central Mosque, Sheikh Sulaimon Abu-Nola, was entirely absent from the courtroom and never appeared to give evidence.

The magistrate pointed out that while the complainant’s appearance is not strictly compulsory, the prosecution’s reliance on third-party narratives crippled their case.

“The evidence presented before this court is anchored heavily on hearsay,” the judge remarked, declaring the tendered exhibits unsupported by direct evidence.

The court noted that the prosecution failed completely to establish a connection or link the defendant to the alleged criminal acts.

Furthermore, cross-examination exposed fatal contradictions in the testimonies.

One of the principal police investigators (PW1) admitted under cross-examination that there was no correspondence between the initial allegations and the charges filed. Crucially, the investigator confirmed that no Ramadan Lecture actually took place in February 2025, as the event had been suspended a week earlier following an undertaking signed by the parties to maintain peace.

Another prosecution witness (PW4) further damaged the state’s case by admitting under cross-examination that the disruptions he was testifying about occurred in 2024, completely contradicting the 2025 timeline stated in the charge sheet.

Addressing the core narrative of the feud – the defendant parading himself as the ’Baba Adinni’ – the judge stated bluntly that presenting oneself under the religious title is not a criminal offence under the law.

The defence team, led by Adekunle Oyesanya (SAN), successfully argued that the Lagos State government had actually recognised Sikiru’s title, tendering a letter dated February 11, 2026, from the Ministry of Home Affairs (Exhibit P6) addressed to Sikiru explicitly as the “Baba Adinni of Lagos Central Mosque.”

The magistrate ruled that the underlying dispute regarding leadership, elections, and titles at the Lagos Central Mosque is already a subject of litigation before the Federal High Court.

“This court cannot dive into matters that are already pending before the Federal High Court,” the judge ruled, describing the invitation to meddle in the leadership tussle as a forbidden and slippery case that the Magistrates’ Court lacks the jurisdiction to handle.

“It will be better that these allegations and leadership arguments be made before the High Court.”

Concluding the ruling, the court held that the onus lay squarely on the prosecution to prove the essential ingredients of disorderly conduct, namely, that an act was committed with the explicit intent to cause a breach of public peace, beyond a reasonable doubt.

The judge, therefore, ruled that no prima facie case had been established to warrant putting the defendant on defence.