By Oluwatoyin Adegoke

An Ogun State Magistrate Court sitting in Isabo, Abeokuta, has ordered the remand of a National Youth Service Corps official, Abass Olalekan, for 60 days over his alleged involvement in the death of a 23-year-old corps member, Victoria Ariyo, following a suspected unlawful abortion.

The remand order was issued by Magistrate O.T. Odubanjo after an ex parte application filed by the police prosecutor, Solomon Babalola, seeking the defendant’s custody pending legal advice from the Ogun State Directorate of Public Prosecutions.

Olalekan, who was initially arraigned on a two-count charge of conspiracy and attempt to procure abortion, had earlier pleaded not guilty and was granted bail in the sum of five hundred thousand naira with stipulated conditions.

Proceedings, however, took a new turn when the defendant was re-arraigned on an amended four-count charge, which now includes murder.

The charge sheet alleged that Olalekan and others conspired to procure an unlawful abortion for the deceased at Ikereku, Laderin in   Abeokuta and that he supplied the drugs that led to her death.

The prosecutor told the court that the remand was necessary to enable the police conclude investigations and obtain legal advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions on the upgraded charges.

In his ruling, Magistrate Odubanjo granted the application and ordered that the defendant be remanded at the Oba Correctional Centre, Abeokuta, pending the advice of the DPP.

The case had been adjourned until June 1, 2026 for further proceedings.