There was trouble at an Osogbo magistrate’s court, on Tuesday, when two men engaged in a scuffle over the bail of a widow, Mrs. Funmilola Ariyo, who was charged with stealing N66,430.
One of the men, identified as Saka Oyedeji, engaged an unnamed retired prison officer in a scuffle inside the premises of the court just as visitors to the court, watched in surprise.
Both men, who were separate parties in a land dispute before the court, had individually offered to stand as surety for the widow when the spat broke out.
The unnamed retired prison officials, who first offered to stand as surety, had upbraided the widow, warning her to live above board.
This charge angered Oyedeji, who warned the retired official against insulting the widow, saying that he (Oyedeji) would stand surety for the woman instead.
Ariyo, who brought her four-year-old daughter to court, broke down in tears when it appeared that nobody would stand surety for her.
Her pitiable sight prompted both men to come to her rescue, but the simmering land dispute between the two men got the better of them.
However, the land dispute was not mentioned in court.