Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Ikeja Special Offences Court has sentenced Pastor Erinwole Adetokunbo and Adedoyin Oyekanmi to death for killing a seven-year-old boy.
The duo who murdered a seven-year-old boy for ritual purposes in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State were sentenced after they changed their pleas from not guilty to guilty on Monday.
They convicts were charged with conspiracy to commit murder and murder.
Lagos State government said the convicts committed the offences on June 7, 2017, at No. 6, Oke Oniburokun St., Odokekere, Ikorodu, Lagos.
The government said that the duo cut off the child’s head and buried it on a `church’ altar and threw the body into a canal.
The judge held that the case was pathetic, saying that the duo conspired and murdered the child.
“The defendants have committed a heinous crime and deserve no mercy. They have cruelly and intentionally killed a seven-year-old boy.
This deprived him and his family of a bright destiny. Section 222 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State imposes death penalty for premeditated murder, and I have no hesitation in imposing the said punishment. I hereby sentence Adedoyin Oyekanmi and Erinwole Adetokunbo to death for killing Kazeem Rafiu.
May God have mercy on your souls,” she pronounced
The convicts were arraigned on Oct. 30, 2017, on a two-count charge and pleaded not guilty.
In a related development, the Akwa Ibom State High Court, sitting in Uyo, the state capital, has sentenced a 21-year-old Uduak Akpan to death by hanging for the murder of job seeker, Iniubong Umoren.
The court also found the accused guilty of rape and accordingly sentenced him to life imprisonment for having carnal knowledge of the deceased whom he lured to his father’s house in Uruan local government in April 2021 under the pretext of offering her a job.
Delivering judgement which lasted for almost two hours on Thursday, the trial judge, Justice Bassey Nkanang, discharged and acquitted the convicts father, Frank Akpan and sister, Anwan Bassey (2nd and 3rd defendant) accused of accessory after the fact to murder, respectively.