By Oludamisi Ojo
An Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti has sentenced four persons to death by hanging for robbery and murder.
The convicts are Babagida Amodu 25, Oluwafemi Ibrahim, 20, Ojo Ayodele, 25, and Okunato Dada 20.
They were charged with a three-count charge of conspiracy, armed robbery, and murder.
Delivering the judgment on Monday, Justice John Adeyeye, said: ‘’It is obvious that the defendants acted in concert to rob Ibrahim Isiaka and Mohammed Sanusi, who died as a result of the injury inflicted on him during the robbery.
“In conclusion, the prosecution has successfully proved the three charges of conspiracy to rob, armed robbery and murder preferred against them and they are each convicted accordingly in respect of each of the offenses.
According to the charges slammed in them, the convicts on the 7th of June, 2018 at Ijoka Area Ado Ekiti, conspired to commit armed robbery by robbing one Ibrahim Isiaka of his phone and sum of N1,500, while also murdering one Muhammed Sanusi on the said day.
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The charge read that the convicts at the time of committing the offense were armed with guns and knives.
The offenses contravened sections 516, 402 (2), and 316 of the Criminal Code Cap C16 Laws of Ekiti State of Nigeria, 2012.
According to an eyewitness, Ibrahim Isiaka, who testified before the court, said: “myself and the deceased were going to Mosque to buy food and to charge our phones at Ijoka, around 7:45 pm, while we were approaching the charging center, some hoodlums just appeared and demanded our phones and money, but we declined
“They dragged me and collected my Techno phone valued at N7,500 and a cash sum of N1,500. When they started beating the deceased, I ran away to call our people, but before we got there, they had left but met the deceased in the pool of blood, having been stabbed in the neck.
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” I recognized the faces of the convicts during the act. The case was later reported at the Police station”, he concluded.
To prove his case during the trial, the prosecutor, Barrister Felix Awoniyi, called five witnesses and tendered statements of the four convicts and medical reports as exhibits.
The defendants spoke through their counsels, Adeyinka Opaleke, Ekiti State Coordinator of the Legal Aid Council, O. Abiola, and A. Ayobioloja, they called no witnesses.
