An Osun State High Court sitting in Ile-Ife, on Tuesday sentenced three men to death by hanging for killing a corps member named Mukaila Adebayo, during a robbery operation in Osogbo, the state capital.
Gatekeepers News reports that the defendants were Jelili Kareem, a herbal seller, Oludayo Oludele, a commercial motorcyclist, and Muyiwa Awodeji, an alleged electrician.
Long before the court sitting, the three men had on January 28, 2020, in Omo West Area of Osogbo allegedly conspired to rob Adebayo, who was observing a one-year mandatory service for graduates, of his mobile phone, recharge cards, and other valuables, and killed him.
The offences committed were contrary to and punishable under Sections 316, 319, and 324 of the Criminal Code Law. Cap.34, Vol. 2. Laws of State, 2002.
The defendants stood trial on offences bordering on conspiracy, armed robbery, and murder.
They first appeared in court on October 8, 2020, and pleaded not guilty to all the counts pressed against them.
A vulcanizer named Buliaminu Anifowose was also arraigned alongside the three men for allegedly buying recharge cards stolen from Adebayo after he was shot dead.
Prosecutor from Ministry of Justice, Mr Muyiwa Ogunleye told the court that the deceased’s daughter was at the scene when they shot Adebayo.
Ogunleye brought into court, the 10-year-old girl, pathologist who performed an autopsy on the deceased, Investigative Police Officer who investigated the matter, and a sibling of the deceased.
The prosecutor noted that the prosecution had proven its case beyond doubt, urging the court to apply full weight of law against the defendants.
However, counsel from Legal Aid Council, Folashade Ipede Suleiman Akano, and Shina Olaniyan, who represented the defendants, insisted that the prosecution failed to prove its case against their clients.
The presiding judge, Justice Adedapo Adeniji, in his judgment, held that the prosecution had proven that the defendants committed the crime and subsequently convicted the three men of murder and armed robbery.
Adeniji thereafter sentenced Kareem, Oludele, and Awodeji to death by hanging but discharged Anifowose.
