An Ekiti State High Court, Ado Ekiti Division, has sentenced a 49-year-old man, Ademola Akinola, to death by hanging for shooting his elder brother to death and taking away his motorcycle.
Ademola was arraigned in December 2020 for robbing and killing his elder brother, Tunde Akinola.
The charge read, “That you, Akinola Ademola, on November 19, 2019, at Usin Ekiti, in the Ikole Local Government Area of Ekiti State, did rob one Tunde Akinola of his Bajaj motorcycle with registration number ADK 011 VC. At the time of the robbery, you were armed with an offensive weapon, to wit; a gun.”
The charge added that the defendant “on the same date, time and place, did murder the victim, Tunde Akinola”.
An eyewitness, Anike Ogunnusi, who testified before the court, said she and the deceased were going along a footpath on the farm when she saw somebody inside the bush pointing a gun at Tunde.
The witness said, “I shouted, ‘Tunde, run, run, somebody is pointing a gun at you’. Then I took to my heels. While running, I heard a gunshot. I later saw a passerby on the road. When I explained what happened to him, he accompanied me to the scene. On getting there, we met the deceased face down in a pool of blood; his motorcycle had been taken away.”
Another witness testified that “the deceased and his younger brother once had an altercation on the management of their father’s farm property.”
“During police investigation, the motorcycle of the deceased was found in his younger brother’s possession; he had changed the number plate. But the discovery was made through the motorcycles’ documents,” he added.
The police prosecutor, Kunle-Shina Adeyemi, said the offences contravened sections 402 (2) and 319(1) of the Criminal Code Law, Cap. C16, Laws of Ekiti State of Nigeria, 2012.
The prosecutor, who called four witnesses, also tendered the statements of the witnesses and defendant, two locally-made guns, the photograph of the defendant posing with the motorcycle, motorcycle particulars, and a medical report, among others, as exhibits.
The defendant spoke through his counsel, Olarewaju Oluwasola, and called no witness.
In the court judgment, Justice Lekan Ogunmoye said, “The ingredients of the offences of armed robbery and murder have been established against the defendant. The defendant is accordingly convicted as charged for the offences of armed robbery and murder. The defendant is sentenced to death by hanging on count one (armed robbery) and count two (murder) until he be dead.”