An Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti has sentenced 29-year-old Adedayo Olawole to death by hanging over the murder of Chukwudi Joseph.
Olawole was also sentenced to seven years of imprisonment for conspiracy in the murder of the deceased person.
He was arraigned on Wednesday on two counts bordering on conspiracy and murder.
The charge reads: “That Adedayo Olawole and others now at large at Eporo in Emure-Ekiti did conspire to murder one Chukwudi Joseph. The offences are contrary to Sections 244 and 243 of the Criminal Law of Ekiti State, Nigeria, 2021.”
A cousin of the deceased who witnessed the incident testified against Olawole, claiming that the defendant and his gang beat and stabbed Joseph in the left side of his chest.
The prosecutor, Ibironke Odetola, called six witnesses and tendered the defendant’s statements, pictures of the deceased and other supporting documents as exhibits.
Justice Jubril Aladejana said that assaulting the deceased with planks before being stabbed showed that the assailants intended to cause him grievous bodily harm or his death.
Justice Aladejana said that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the defendant and others at large conspired to commit the felony of murder.
He said: “On count one, conspiracy, the defendant is sentenced to seven years imprisonment without an option of fine. On count two, murder, the sentence of this court upon Adedayo Olawole is that you shall be hanged by the neck until you are dead. May God have mercy on your soul.”
Court sentences man to death for murder in Ekiti
