An Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday sentenced six persons to death by hanging for murder.
The condemned persons are Oniyelu Olu, 63; Folorunso Oluwatoba, 65; Peter Ajayi, 73; Dolamu Olaide, 29; John Ojo, 77; and Lateef Arowolo, 45. The seventh person, Tijani Arowolo, 80, died during trial.
Justice Lekan Ogunmoye, who while handing down the death sentence on the convicts in his judgment, said: “The prosecution has successfully established a prima facie case of conspiracy, attempted murder and murder against the defendants, and may God have mercy on their souls”.
The judge also gave the condemned persons five years imprisonment each for conspiracy and attempted murder, except the second accused person, who bagged 10 years.
The prosecutor, Oluwakemi Daniel, had told the court that the offences were committed on or about February 7, 2017, in Ilupeju Ekiti, when the convicts conspired to murder one Sola Adeniyi, 27, and also attempted to murder a motorcyclist, Ojo Olaoluwa, 22.
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According him, the offences contravened sections 516, 320 and 316 of the Criminal Code, CAP C16, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.
The motorcyclist had given evidence that the 2nd accused person, Oluwatoba, stopped him on the day of the incident and when he was about to mount his motorcycle, the rider noticed blood drops from his bag, he asked him to open the bag because of the police checkpoint ahead, but Oluwatoba said he was carrying a grasscutter and he could not open the bag.
Not satisfied with the response and feeling suspicious of the content of the bag, the motorcyclist took to his heels.
During the trial, the prosecutor called five witnesses, while exhibits tendered included the confessional statements made to the police by the convicts, photographs of the severed body of the deceased, medical report from the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, a Dane gun, a locally-made single-barrelled gun and one cartridge.
