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.
Delivering judgment on Tuesday, Justice Olalekan Olatawura also sentenced the duo to seven years imprisonment each for conspiracy to commit the crime.
The convicts were arraigned on February 14, 2023, on a five-count charge bordering on conspiracy, armed robbery, and stealing. They were accused of terrorizing residents of Ado Ekiti and robbing them of their valuables, including vehicles, cash, food items, and electronic gadgets.
According to the charge, Adejuwon and Adeniyi, on January 4, 2022, and January 1, 2023, conspired to steal ₦100,000 and a UBA ATM card belonging to one Adeowo Aderonke. They were also said to have robbed one Ojo Adeniyi of his Toyota Highlander SUV, a bag of rice, five tubers of yam, and ₦156,000.
Additionally, the duo robbed another victim, Emmanuel Adebajo Gbenga, of his Toyota Camry car, laptop computer, six phones, and ₦60,000. The offences contravene Sections 302(4)(a), 312(2)(a), and 421 of the Criminal Law of Ekiti State, 2021.
In his testimony before the court, one of the victims, Emmanuel Adebajo, recounted how he, his wife, and their three children were attacked around 2 a.m. on New Year’s Day while returning home from church.
“As we were about to enter our compound, three armed men suddenly appeared. They ordered us out of the car at gunpoint and took away my car, laptop, six phones, keys, and ₦60,000 – all worth about ₦376,000,” he said.
He added that after reporting to the police, his vehicle was tracked to Offa, Kwara State, where the defendants were eventually arrested and transferred to the Ekiti State Police Command.
The prosecution, led by Olasanmi Oluwaseun, called three witnesses and tendered exhibits, while the defendants, represented by counsel Lawrence Fasanmi, did not call any witnesses.
In his judgment, Justice Olatawura noted that one of the convicts, Adeniyi, had admitted in his confessional statement that he was an ex-convict.
“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 observed.
He added that although the court considered their plea for mercy, the punishment for armed robbery under the law is 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 are dead. May God have mercy on your soul,” the judge pronounced.
