An Ekiti State High Court in Ado Ekiti on Monday sentenced
two men and two women to death by hanging after finding them guilty of murder.
The convicts are Rashidat Abdul (f), 37; Oluwatosin
Akarakiri (m), 32; Abdulrasheed Mutairu (m), 22, and Iyoriochile Eromoina (f),
18, who were sentenced to death by hanging.
The quartet is to pay the supreme price for the
unlawful killing of a 70-year-old man, Samuel Oloyede, on April 5, 2017, in Odo
Owa Ekiti, Ijero Local Government Area of Ekiti State.
Justice Oluwatoyin Abodunde held that the
prosecution has proved the case of murder against the convicts beyond
reasonable doubt.
The judge ruled that the convicts, by killing the
deceased, contravened Section 316 Criminal Code, Cap C 16, Laws of Ekiti State
of Nigeria 2012 and Section 301(2) (2) of Ekiti State Criminal Justice Law 2014.
Justice Abodunde held that: "I am persuaded
that in the instant case, prosecution have proved the ingredients of murder
beyond reasonable doubt by convincing and compelling qualitative unbroken
circumstantial evidence and I so hold.
"The sentence of the court upon the four
accused persons is that you be hanged by the neck until you be dead and may God
have mercy on your souls."
They were first arraigned on February 12, 2018,
when the charge was read and interpreted to them, but pleaded not guilty.
According to the witnesses, the deceased was a
pensioner who operated a brothel in his personal house as a means of livelihood
where all the accused persons also lived.
There was a misunderstanding between the deceased
and accused persons on payments and sharing formula.
They testified further that the accused persons
vacated the premises leaving the deceased missing and later found his dead body
on the fourth day under heap of cloths with his hands tied.
The matter was reported at the palace and later at
Ijero Police Station.
To prove his case, the prosecutor, Oluwatoyin
Marcus, called 12 witnesses, including the Investigating Police Officer (IPO)
and the medical personnel who conducted postmortem examination on the cause of
the deceased's death.
Exhibits tendered included statements of the
accused, statements of the witnesses, photographs of the deceased dead body and
medical report.
The accused persons spoke in their own defence
through their lawyer, Chris Omokhafe, and called no witness throughout the
trial.
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