A 29-year-old man identified as Adedayo Olawole has been sentenced to death by hanging by an Ekiti State High Court, Ado Ekiti Division, for the murder of one Chukwudi Joseph.
Adedayo was first arraigned on March 29 2023, on two counts of charges bordering on conspiracy and murder.
The court on Monday also sentenced Adedayo to seven years imprisonment without an option of fine for conspiracy in the murder of the deceased person.
The charge read, “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, in his testimony before the court, said the defendant, alongside other boys, hit the deceased with planks before one of the gang members stabbed him to death.
The cousin to the deceased said he saw when one of the defendant’s gang stabbed Chukwudi in the left side of his chest, and he died before some people could get there for the 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 kill him.
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.
The judge said, “On count one (Conspiracy), the defendant is sentenced to seven years imprisonment without an option of fine;
“On 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.”
