From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
Five people, Ibrahim Issa, Lateef Bello, AbdulRamon Soliu, Bello Ibrahim and AbuduMumini Saheed, have been sentenced to death by hanging by the Osun State High Court in Ede, for murder of a Fulani herder, Alhaji Ibrahim Adamu.
The convicts were arraigned on October 28, 2021, on four counts bordering on conspiracy, kidnapping and murder, contrary to sections 324, 319 and 364 of the criminal code, law of Osun State, 2002.
Counsel from the Ministry of Justice, Faremi Moses, told the court that the convicts kidnapped Adamu on April 17, 2018, around 7:45pm in his residential building at Owode-Ede, in Ede North Local Government Area of the state. The prosecution informed the court that the convicts collected N3 million ransom from the family of their victim and later killed him.
He called three witnesses, including the Police Investigating Officer, Ganiyu Taofeek, who tendered several exhibits, including extra-judicial statements and a mask used by the kidnappers to prove his care. The protection’s witness narrated how the convicts mutilated the body of the deceased and shared it after which they dumped the remains inside the Osun River.
Saheed also admitted that they killed their victim and shared the ransom in his confessional statement tendered by the police. Justice Kudirat Akano agreed that the prosecutor had proven the case against the convicts beyond reasonable doubt and convicted them accordingly. Their counsels, Bola Ige and Folashade Ipede, prayed to the court to temper justice with mercy in sentencing them.
Justice Akano thereby, sentenced each of the convicts to death by hanging for murder, 14 years imprisonment for conspiracy to kidnap, 14 years imprisonment for kidnapping, and 14 years imprisonment for conspiracy to murder.