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For the murder of one Mr Chukwudi Joseph, a State High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti Division has sentenced a 29-year-old Adedayo Olawole to death by hanging.
The court also sentenced him to seven years imprisonment for conspiracy in the murder of the deceased person.
He was arraigned on March 29, 2023, on two counts bordering on conspiracy and murder.
The charge reads, “That Adedayo Olawole and others now at large at Eporo in Emure Ekiti did conspire to murder one Chukwudi Joseph. The offences are contrary to Sections 244 and 243 of the Criminal Law of Ekiti State Nigeria, 2021.”
One of the eyewitnesses, a cousin to the deceased told the court that he saw the defendant and some other boys hit the deceased with planks and later one of the defendant’s gang members stabbed him in the left side of his chest, he fell down and died before some people could get there for rescue.
The prosecutor, Ibironke Odetola, called six witnesses and tendered the defendant’s statements, pictures of the deceased and other supporting documents as exhibits.
The defendant spoke in his defence through his lawyer, M.A. Daramola, and called one witness.
In the judgment, Justice Jubril Aladejana said that assaulting the deceased with planks before being stabbed in the left part of his chest showed that the assailants intended to cause him grievous bodily harm or his death.
The judge, who said that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant and others at large conspired to commit the felony of murder at Eporo Ekiti on December 10, 2021, said, “Consequently, the sole issue for determination is resolved in favour of the prosecution.
“On count one (Conspiracy), the defendant is sentenced to seven years imprisonment without an option of fine. Count two (murder), the sentence of this court upon Adedayo Olawole is that you shall be hanged by the neck until you be dead. May God have mercy on your soul”, the judge declared.
