OSUN High Court: Four People Were Sentenced To Death For Armed Robbery And Murder

Four individuals have been found guilty of murder and armed robbery and given the death penalty by hanging at Osun State High Court in Osogbo, which is presided over by Honorable Justice Jide Falola.

The defendants were Hammed Rafiu, 37, Rasidi Waidi, 39, Kayode Sunday, 29, and security guard Owolabi Bashiru, 54, who were charged with six counts and appeared before the court on October 23, 2019.

The four men were charged with conspiracy in violation of section 6(b), armed robbery in violation of and punishable by section 1(1) and (2)(a)(b) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Cap. R11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, on six (6) counts. theft is against the law and punishable under section 390(9), conspiracy to commit murder is against section 324, murder is against section 319 and penalized under that section, and kidnapping is against section 364 of the Criminal Code, Cap. 34, Volume 2, Laws of Osun State of Nigeria, 2002.

They had entered a plea of not guilty to the allegations made against them, but the court nonetheless mandated their detention in a remand.

According to the prosecution’s attorney from the Ministry of Justice, Dele Akintayo, one Victor Akinbile, a cousin of former Deputy Governor Adegboyega Benedict Alabi, was murdered by the four men gang on November 26, 2018, while he was traveling to Ikirun, Osun State to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Mr. Benedict Gboyega Alabi and Governor Adeboyega Oyetola.

Victor Akinbile, who spent the night in his uncle’s home in the Moboreje Area of Ikirun, called his wife to let her know that he had arrived at the home on November 26, 2018, the barrister Akintayo told the court.

The prosecution’s attorney also claimed that on November 26, 2018, Victor Akinbile arrived from Lagos and stayed in a house right across from his duty station at Basorun House Moboreje Area, Ikirun. Owolabi Bashiru, a security guard who was stationed across the street, informed Hammed Rafiu, Rashidi Waidi, and Kayode Sunday of this.

The inmates, who were allegedly loaded with hazardous weapons, reportedly scaled the fence into VictorAkinbile’s uncle’s home; during their armed robbery operation, they were armed with firearms, cutlasses, and other deadly weapons; they forced entry into his room where Victor was sleeping.

They forced their way inside the home through a break-in window and demanded Victor give them ten million Naira. Victor replied that he didn’t have that much money, but revealed that he had five million Naira in his bank account.

He sent three million naira to Hammed Rafiu’s United Bank for Africa (UBA) account, and after threatening to kill the victim, Rafiu took hundreds of thousands of naira in cash from him.

Victor Akinbile was killed after the convicts took three million naira and hundreds of thousands of naira cash from him, put him in the trunk of his Toyota Camry automobile, and drove him to Dominion Camp, which is located near the old Iragbiji road along the Ikirun/Osogbo road.

The trio robbed Alhaji Azeez Olusegun on October 8, 2018, behind Oluwo’s House Eweta, Ikirun, and took a Toyota Camry (muzzle) with the registration number JJJ 371 AA LAGOS while also taking 620,000. This information was presented throughout the trial.

At Ogijo in Ogun State, Kayode Sunday in Ondo State, and Ikirun, Owolabi Bashiru was detained, as were Hammed Rafiu and Rashidi Waidi.

The convicts testified on their own after Barrister Akintayo had earlier called four witnesses and presented numerous materials to the court.

Attorneys for Hammed Rafiu, Rashidi Waidi, Kayode Sunday, and Owolabi Bashiru, the fourth accused person, and Hammed Rafiu, Rashidi Waidi, and Adedayo Adedeji, the fifth accused person, earlier testified in court that there was no evidence that the accused held a meeting prior to the robbery incident and urged the court to release and acquit the defendants.

Justice Falola agreed that the prosecution’s attorney, Dele Akintayo Esq., had established his case beyond a reasonable doubt and found the defendants guilty on all six of the accusations that had been brought against them.

In his ruling, Justice Jide Falola punished the defendants as follows: counts one and two were given life enhancements, counts three and four were given death sentences, counts five and six were given seven years in jail.

The case was described by Justice Falola as being technology-assisted, and he commended the Nigerian police for their efforts in locating the convicts and their bank accounts.

Along with recommending that none of the criminals receive any state pardons, such as the perogative of mercy or any other of such, he further decreed that all money recovered from convicts and money in their bank accounts should be given to the widow of the deceased.