TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH BY HANGING FOR ARMED ROBBERY IN EKITI
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By Aishat Momoh. O.
An Ekiti State High Court, sitting in Ado Ekiti, has sentenced two men — 37-year-old Kehinde Adejuwon and 35-year-old ex-convict Dayo Adeniyi — to death by hanging for armed robbery.
In the judgment delivered on Tuesday, Justice Olalekan Olatawura also sentenced both convicts to seven years’ imprisonment each for conspiracy to commit the crime.
The duo were found guilty of terrorising residents of Ado Ekiti and robbing them of valuables including two vehicles, a laptop computer, mobile phones, bags of rice, yam tubers and cash.
They were first arraigned on February 14, 2023, on a five-count charge bordering on conspiracy, armed robbery, and stealing, contrary to Sections 302(4)(a), 312(2)(a), and 421 of the Criminal Law of Ekiti State, 2021.
According to the charge, Adejuwon and Adeniyi, while armed with a gun and a cutlass, robbed several victims between January 4, 2022, and January 1, 2023.
They were accused of stealing ₦100,000 and a UBA ATM card belonging to one Adeowo Aderonke, as well as a Toyota Highlander Jeep, a bag of rice, five tubers of yam, and ₦156,000 from Ojo Adeniyi.
They also reportedly robbed Emmanuel Adebajo Gbenga of his Toyota Camry, laptop, six phones, and ₦60,000, all valued at ₦376,000.
Testifying before the court, victim Emmanuel Adebajo recounted that he, his wife, and their three children were returning from church around 2 a.m. on New Year’s Day when the robbers ambushed them at the gate of their house.
“We were ordered to come down from the car. They snatched the car from me at gunpoint, along with my laptop, phones, and ₦60,000. The car was later tracked to Offa, Kwara State, where the defendants were arrested,” he said.
The prosecutor, Olasanmi Oluwaseun, presented three witnesses and tendered several exhibits, while the defence, represented by Lawrence Fasanmi, called none.
Delivering judgment, Justice Olatawura noted that Adeniyi had described himself in his confessional statement as an ex-convict, lamenting that he had failed to reform after serving a previous sentence.
“One would have thought that after his experience in prison, he ought to have reformed himself. Instead, he stepped up his criminal acts and graduated from being a phone thief to an armed robber,” the judge said.
The judge added that though he had considered the defendants’ plea for mercy, the punishment for armed robbery under the law was mandatory.
“Consequently, on Count One (Conspiracy), the defendants are sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment each, while on Count Two (Armed Robbery), the sentence of this court is that you be hanged by the neck until you be dead. May God have mercy on your souls,” Justice Olatawura pronounced.
In a related development, the same court in October sentenced 27-year-old Alex Peter to life imprisonment for armed robbery and nine years for conspiracy.
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