In a significant ruling, the High Court of Ekiti State, presided over by Justice L.O. Ogundana, has sentenced four individuals to death by hanging for their involvement in armed robbery, murder, and conspiracy.
The court also handed down a life imprisonment sentence for the offence of attempted murder.
The convicts, Ogunleye Sola, Adebayo Ebenezer, Lasisi Afeez, and Ojo Oba, were found guilty of offences contrary to Section 6(b) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Cap. R11, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004, as well as murder and attempt to murder contrary to Sections 319 (1) & 320 of the Criminal Code Law, Cap. C16, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.
The offences were committed on the 29th day of May 2017 at Oyan Orete Camp, Ijan- Ekiti, where the defendants robbed the occupants of the camp at gunpoint, murdered Olasunkanmi Ramon, and attacked Alhaji Adeleye Usman with a cutlass on the head.
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Julius Ajibare, presented the case for Ekiti State, calling five witnesses and submitting seven exhibits.
The defendants, represented by their counsels Chris Omokhafe and Oluwaseun Oye Banji, testified in their defence and called two additional witnesses.
After considering the evidence presented, the Honourable Court ruled that the Prosecution had proven all the offences against the defendants beyond reasonable doubt.
As a result, the defendants were convicted and sentenced to death by hanging for the offences of conspiracy, armed robbery, and murder, and life imprisonment for the offence of attempted murder.
