Two men sentenced to death over N1.39m robbery in Ondo

By Boye Oyeyemi

An Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure has sentenced two men, Lasisi Nureni, a carpenter, and Akintan Adebayo, a driver, to death by hanging for armed robbery involving a motorist who lost his car, valuables and N1.39 million.

The convicts were found guilty of conspiracy to commit armed robbery and armed robbery over an attack on Omojolowo Boluwaji at his residence in Ilu Titun, Ondo State, on June 20, 2019.

Testifying before the court, Boluwaji said the incident occurred around 1 a.m. when he stepped outside to check why his generator had stopped working. He said four armed men accosted him, shone a torchlight on his face and announced that they were robbers.

According to the victim, the attackers demanded the keys to his newly acquired car. When he refused to surrender them, they assaulted him and beat his wife before fleeing with the vehicle, five mobile phones, a laptop, jewellery and cash belonging to the couple.

Boluwaji told the court that he recognised Adebayo by his face and voice because they had known each other as fellow drivers for more than 20 years. However, he said he did not know Nureni well before the latter’s arrest.

A police witness, Inspector Omotadowa Sunday, said investigators traced one of the stolen phones to Imesi in Osun State, where Nureni was arrested. The officer told the court that the carpenter confessed to conspiring with others to carry out the robbery.

However, both defendants denied the allegations. Nureni claimed he was arrested following a disagreement with his mother, while Adebayo denied knowing him before their arrests and maintained that he had been in detention since 2018.

In his judgment, Justice William Olamide held that the prosecution had proved the charges beyond reasonable doubt. He sentenced each defendant to seven years’ imprisonment for conspiracy and death by hanging for armed robbery.