Follow Us on Google
The Ogun State High Court sitting in Abeokuta on Friday sentenced two men – Mustakeem Balogun and Soliudeen Majekodunmi – to death for the gruesome murder of a teenager, Sofia Okeowo on January 28 2022.
The third defendant, Lukmon Abdulgafar, was sentenced to life imprisonment for his involvement in the murder of the teenager.
The three convicts were caught by community guards with Sofia’s fresh head burning in a local burner, as the convicts recited incantations over her corpse. The incident was captured on camera, and the video went viral in January 2022.
Subsequent investigations revealed that Mustakeem was Sofia’s boyfriend, and on 28 January 2022, he had invited Sofia to his house, around Kugba Area of Abeokuta. Mustakeem was in the company of Soliudeen. Mustakeem had sexual intercourse with the 16-year-old girl, he, in a premeditated vicious attack, and with the help of Soliudeen, strangulated Sofia. They then beheaded her.
Mustakeem and Soliudeen also cut parts of Sofia’s thighs and then stuffed Sofia’s headless body into a sack. Subsequently, they took Sofia’s head to Lukmon’s house to be burnt with a local burner. All three burnt the head with a local burner and were arrested in the act. Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Ogun State Oluwasina Ogungbade, SAN, in a statement after the judgement, noted: “Ogun State has won this case, and the convicts have been conclusively excluded from civilised society for the considerable future. We are grateful for the closure that we have been able to provide Sofia’s family. I am incredibly proud of the prosecutors at the Ministry of Justice who secure justice despite challenges. My immense thanks go to the police and the security architecture across the state who are actively fighting crime, preventing many and solving others.
“However, there are no victors in this story. The penchant for unmerited wealth is at an all-time high in our society while the customary checks – families, communities, and religious organisations – have lost the interest and efficacy to denounce immorality.
This is why the young convicts, rather than chase skills or employment, resorted to money rituals, possibly encouraged by a society that elevates the ends of wealth above the means of getting rich.”
