Six men have been sentenced to death by an Osun State High Court sitting in Osogbo.
The presiding judge, Justice Jide Falola, on Monday, condemned four men to death by hanging for offences bordering on armed robbery and murder of one Victor Akinbile.
Akinbile was reportedly a relative of the immediate past Osun State Deputy Governor, Mr. Benedict Alabi.
Prosecution Counsel from the state Ministry of Justice, Dele Akintayo, had on October 23, 2019, arraigned the suspects on six counts of armed robbery and murder.
The convicts were identified as Hammed Rafiu, 37; Rasidi Waidi, 39; Kayode Sunday, 29; and Owolabi Bashiru, 54.
They had pleaded not guilty to the offenses.
Akintayo told the court that Akinbile had come to Osun on November 26, 2018, for the swearing-in ceremony of the former governor, Adeboyega Oyetola, and went to Ikirun to pass the night when he was abducted by the four men.
The gang members were reportedly informed of Akinbile’s presence by Owolabi, a security guard working in a house opposite where the victim wanted to pass the night.
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They were said to have forced their way into the building and demanded a sum of N10 million.
NIGERIACRIME gathered that the victim transferred N3 million to a bank account belonging to one of the assailants and also parted with the cash he had with him.
It was learnt that the group locked the victim in the trunk of his car and drove him to a spot along the Osogbo/Ikirun road, where they set the vehicle ablaze after their operation.
In his judgment, Justice Falola said the prosecution’s counsel had proved his case beyond doubt and sentenced the four men to death by hanging.
Furthermore, the judge ruled that the widow of the deceased should be given the cash recovered from the convicts and the cash in their bank accounts.
Due to the gravity of the crime, Justice Falola held that none of the convicts should benefit from any state pardon.
Similarly, Justice Falola sentenced Mutiu Azeez (a.k.a. Tompolo), 41, and Afolabi Mayowa, 35, to death by hanging for armed robbery and murder on Monday.
The prosecution counsel, Dele Akintayo, told the court that on July 1, 2018, between 6 and 7 am, the defendants asked a commercial motorcycle driver to take them to Egbeda.
He further said, “the motorcyclist, Mayowa Olatokun, was already conveying the men to the agreed place when they suddenly stopped and dragged him into the bush where he was murdered and his motorcycle taken away.”
The counsel who represented the defendants, Adedayo Adedeji, had urged the court to be lenient with them.
Falola subsequently found them guilty and sentenced them to death by hanging.