25 February 2021 :

The Governor of Jigawa State, Muhammad Badaru, on 24 February 2021 assented to a bill stipulating stiffer punishment for rapists.
The new Violence Against Persons Prohibition Law stipulates the death penalty for rape convicts who infect their victims with HIV/AIDS.
The state House of Assembly passed the bill on 17 February and transmitted it to the governor for assent.
While assenting to the bill, Mr Badaru commended the state’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Musa Aliyu, and the state’s Council of Ulamas for their collaboration leading to the passage of the bill.
The governor said he assented to the bill after consultation with the Council of Ulamas who assured him that no section of the law is in conflict with Islam and the culture of the people of Jigawa State.
The law, expected to be gazetted soon, also stipulates that the Sharia law will take precedence if any matter in the new law contradicts Islamic teachings.
The chairman, Jigawa council of Ulamas, Bashir-Ahmad, said the new law “was scrutinised and vetted by the religious body to ensure its conformity with Islam”.
The official commended the governor for his trust in the council “that made him to task the members to work on the new law before his final assent”.
The new law also stipulates that rape victim(s) would be compensated with not less than N500,000, while the court would order rape offenders “to be subjected to public shame through radio announcements”.
Also the law says the use of chemical, biological or any harmful substance that causes lifetime deformity to a rape victim will attract life imprisonment without an option of fine.
The bill is an adaptation of a similar bill passed by the National Assembly and adopted by some state Houses of Assembly. The bill also proscribes certain conducts that are injurious to the society.
It also seeks to offer “higher protection to the vulnerable in the society”.
The bill was unanimously passed by the 30 members of the legislative house representing the 27 council areas of the state.

01 February 2021 :

Kebbi State governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu on 28 January 2021 signed a law that prescribes the death penalty for convicted kidnappers.
A statement by the Kebbi Government House said the governor assented the Model Penal Code 2021 to address the spate of kidnapping.
The state's Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Rahmatu Adamu Gulma, said kidnapping will be tried under Section 247 which specifies the death sentence.
Rape cases are also to be tried under Section 259 sub-section 1 of the code under which offenders will face life imprisonment, according to the statement signed by Bagudu's spokesperson, Abubakar Mu'azu Dakingari.
Bagudu also signed the Administration of Criminal Justice Law 2021 into law, a law Gulma said would mean less custodial sentencing as the courts would have the flexibility of non-custodial sentencing for minor offences.
She said Kebbi's prisons would therefore be less congested, and there would be accelerated as well as speedy trials of criminal offences.

04 January 2021 :

Governor Nasir El Rufai of Kaduna State has granted pardon to 12 prisoners in the state to mark the beginning of 2021.
This is contained in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Communication, Mr Muyiwa Adekeye, on 1st January 2021, in Kaduna.
Adekeye said that the pardon was in exercise of the powers conferred on the governor by Section 212 of the Constitution, on the recommendation of the state Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy.
He said that those pardoned included 10 convicts who were serving sentences of three years and above, with six months or less to the end of their term.
Adekeye said that the two other convicts were pardoned on age ground.
The Special Adviser said that the governor also commuted sentences of three other convicts to five years for good conducts.
“The governor has also commuted the death sentence of one Joshua Yashim to life imprisonment,” Adekeye said, explaining that the convict was sentenced to death by hanging for culpable homicide on 9 June 2011.‘’He has been in prison since 2007 when the offence was committed and has spent 13 years there. He did not appeal due to lack of resources,” he said.

06 October 2021 :

The Ondo state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, has granted state pardons to 18 convicts in celebration of Nigeria’s 61st independence anniversary.
The governor also commuted 26 death sentences to life imprisonment. This was disclosed in a statement issued on 1st October 2021 by his chief press secretary, Richard Olatunde,
“In exercise of the powers conferred on him by paragraph (d) of sub-section (1) of Section 212 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as Amended, Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, has granted State pardon to 18 convicted inmates.
“The Governor also commuted to life imprisonment of 26 other inmates who were condemned to death by the various courts in the state.
“The convicts were released having shown remorse and are of good conduct at the correctional centres,” the statement read.
The governor urged the pardoned prisoners to be of good behaviour and live a crime-free life.
He also urged members of the public not to discriminate against the pardoned prisoners as they reintegrate into the society.

29 December 2021 :

An Abeokuta High Court on 24 December 2021 sentenced four gang members to death by hanging for armed robbery.
Wasiu Akanbi, Olaleye Matthew, Adebayo Adetura, and Michael Adesanya had pleaded not guilty to the three counts of conspiracy, armed robbery and unlawful possession of firearms.
Delivering judgment, Justice Patricia Oduniyi, held that the evidence tendered by the Prosecution has convinced the court beyond reasonable doubt that the defendants were guilty of the offence.
She therefore sentenced them to death by hanging.
The Prosecution Counsel, Mr T. O Adeyemi, senior state counsel, told the court that the convicts committed the offence on 5 December 2015 at about 2:30am at the Catholic street Ibafo area of Ogun.
He said that the four men, armed with guns and dangerous weapons broke into the houses of Idris Muritala, Adepoju Tomilola, Sunday Olowomakin and Kayode Opeyemi and robbed them of their valuables.
He said the convicts stole 10 cell phones, two laptops and money.
Adeyemi, said that the offence contravened the provisions of Section 1(2)( a) of the Robbery and Firearms (special provisions) Act, Cap Rll Law of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

07 December 2021 :

An Ado Ekiti High Court on 6 December 2021 sentenced 24-year-old Ebenezer Olorunleke to death by hanging for killing his own brother.
“The sentence of the count upon you is that you will be hanged by the neck until dead. May the Lord have mercy on your soul,’’ the judge said.
Ebenezer, who hails from Yagba East Local Government Area of Kogi State, was arraigned on a three-count charge of conspiracy, armed robbery and murder.
The offences are contrary to sections 6 (b), 1 (2) (a) of the robbery and firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Cap R11, Vol. 14, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
They are also contrary to section 316 and punishable under section 319 (1) of the Criminal Code, Cap C16, Laws of Ekiti State 2012.
According to the charge, Ebenezer and others, now at large, on 29 August 2019, at Abe Cocoa Area, Housing Estate, Oke-Ila, Ado Ekiti, conspired to rob his blood brother, Sunday Olorunleke, of his Bajaj Motorcycle with Registration Number ADK 100 UJ and a sum of N40,000.
At the time of the robbery, Ebenezer was armed with a knife and murdered Sunday.
The police discovered that Ebenezer had sold all his properties and was about to escape with his brother’s motorcycle before he was arrested. He later confessed to have murdered his brother.

02 December 2021 :

Chukwudimeme Onwuamadike, popularly known as Evans the kidnapper, was reportedly sentenced to death by hanging by a Lagos High Court on 25 November 2021.
At the sentencing by an Igbosere High Court in Lagos, Evans who was charged with kidnapping had pleaded not guilty.
He was also charged for attempting to kidnap the chairman of the Young Shall Grow Motors, Mr. Vincent Obianodo.
Other charges against him are bordering on conspiracy, kidnapping, and unlawful possession of firearms.
Evans was docked with three other defendants Joseph Emeka, Chiemeka Arinze, and Udeme Upong.
Evans was arrested by the Inspector General of police’s Intelligence Response Team led by Abba Kyari.
In 2013, Evans was declared wanted after he allegedly masterminded the attempted kidnap of Mr Vincent Obianodo, a businessman who owns the popular Young Shall Grow Motors.
Meanwhile, Evans’ lawyer has vowed to appeal the court decision in an higher court.

01 December 2021 :

Two men, Joseph Etim and Christopher Macaulay on 24 November 2021 were sentenced to death by hanging for killing their uncle, Imo Edet, over landed property in Akwa Ibom.
The convicts were sentenced by the Akwa Ibom State High Court presided over by Justice Okon Okon.
A third accused person, Imeobong Edet, who reportedly sent them to commit the crime, died in detention so his name was struck off the case, Punch reports.
Etim and Macaulay hail from Akpautong and Obio Aduang, respectively, both in the Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area of the state.
Delivering judgement in the case, Justice Okon said the court found the accused persons guilty of murder, punishable by death under Section 326 (1) of the Criminal Code, Cap. 38, Vol. 2, Laws of Akwa Ibom State, 2000.
He said the convicts confessed that an elder brother of the deceased contracted them to kill him for refusing to give him (Imeobong) their late father’s landed property.
The convicts said Imeobong promised them part of the property should they kill his brother, a deal they successfully carried out on 19 November 2016.
The court held that there was “admissible evidence that the victim died instantaneously following an attack by the accused, who inflicted machete cuts on his head and slit his throat with a knife.”
Justice Okon, who described the killing as gory and gruesome, said the act was “deliberate and intentional.”
He noted that the evidence of the prosecution, including the statement by the wife and son of the deceased and the confession of the accused persons, satisfied the essential elements of murder.
The judge said an accused person could be convicted solely on the basis of his confessional statement proven by the satisfaction of the court.
“The sentence of this court upon you, Joseph Usen Etim and Christopher Sunday Macaulay, is that each of you, be hanged by the neck until you be dead. May God have mercy on your souls,” Justice Okon added.

18 November 2021 :

A 36-year-old man, Victor Obit, on 10 November 2021 was sentenced to death by hanging by the Akwa Ibom State High Court for killing his father.
Obit received the sentence, which was issued by Justice Okon Okon, the trial judge, after he was found guilty for using a machete to cut the deceased on the neck.
The convict, who is a native of Ikot Obio Mkpong Ikono, in the Uyo Local Government Area of the state, had accused his late father of being the cause of his misfortune in life.
Obit was reportedly unremorseful for his extreme act of violence as he wanted to eliminate the alleged source of his misfortune.
Justice Okon Okon, while delivering the judgement on 10 November, said: “There is credible and acceptable evidence that the victim died shortly after the accused attacked him with a machete. I have no doubt that the accused did not only intend to cause the deceased grievous bodily harm, but resolved to eliminate him for the nebulous, unsubstantiated allegation that his father was the cause of his problems.”
The court held that “a man who stabs or inflicts machete cuts on another in the neck region is deemed to have intended to kill or cause grievous bodily harm to the person.
“The intent to kill can be formed from the nature of the weapon used and the use of a lethal and death-threatening or death-dealing weapon in the sensitive part of the body like the neck.”
“The accused betrayed his father. Even the heavens weep over the senseless killing of the old man, whose death the son rejoiced over and construed it as the beginning of his freedom from his problems.
“The deceased did not deserve to die by the very hand of his own son.
“I hereby find you, Victor Etimeyo Obot, guilty of murder as charged and accordingly convict you. You are to be hanged by the neck until you be dead.”

17 November 2021 :

An Ekiti State high court, sitting in Ado Ekiti, has sentenced one Danjuma Fayomi Femi, 30, and Jamiu Oyediran, 30, to death for conspiracy and murder of one Adeoye Adegoke, the National Daily reported on 12 November 2021.
According to the charge, the convicts committed the offence on 11 December 2017 in Otun Ekiti, Moba Local Government Area of Ekiti State, contrary to sections 516 and 316 of the Criminal Code Law, Cap C16, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.
One of the deceased’s relatives who testified before the court said he met his brother on the hospital bed on that day, struggling for his life, before he gave up the ghost.
He said the two and others on the run tied his hands and male genital organ and started beating him on the allegation of stealing a bag full of Indian hemp.
He mentioned those on the run as Seyi aka Koro, Ilesanmi aka Babaloja, Dare aka DD, Jamiyu, Kabiru aka KB, Johnson, Festus aka Dudu, Ganiyu aka G-Boy, Owolabi Yinka aka AK-700 and Michael Oyeniyi aka Poison.
The prosecutor, Gbemiga Adaramola, in proving his case called six witnesses and also tendered statements of the defendants and witnesses, photographs of the deceased, sticks, rope and medical reports among others as exhibits.
Justice Adekunle Adeleye, in his judgment, said the prosecutor had led credible evidence linking the defendants to the commission of the two offences.
He sentenced them to 7 years imprisonment for the offence of conspiracy and death for the offence of murder.

11 November 2021 :

An Ekiti State High Court on 10 November 2021 sentenced to death by hanging Abdulsalam Adinoyi, a self-confessed member of the terrorist group Boko Haram.
The sentence was handed down by Lekan Ogunmoye, a judge of Ekiti State High Court, in Ado Ekiti.
Adinoyi was charged and arraigned on a five-count charge bordering on armed robbery, murder, terrorism, and unlawful possession of firearms.
According to the charge, Adinoyi, who hails from Okene in Kogi State, between 22 December 2016 and 20 March 2017, while armed with a gun, attacked and robbed Gana Jiya, a police sergeant, and other police officers at a checkpoint in Oye Ekiti.
He killed Jiya on the spot while the other police officers on duty sustained gun wounds.
He was accused of carting away two AK-47 assault rifles and launching a terrorist attack on the people of Ekiti State and its environs.
Adinoyi confessed to being a member of Boko Haram and in possession of an AK-47.
“The sole issues for determination are accordingly resolved in favour of the prosecution,” the judge said.
“The defendant is hereby found guilty as charged, he is accordingly sentenced to death by hanging in counts 1, 2, and 3. May Almighty God have mercy on his soul.
“He is also sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in count 4 and ten years imprisonment in count 5 with N10,000.00 as an option of fine,” the judge said.

09 November 2021 :

A High Court sitting in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, on 2 November 2021 sentenced a rice farmer, Kabiru Zelani to death by hanging for stabbing an intruding herder to death.
Zelani had overpowered the herder, identified as Ardo Ali and stabbed him to death in Adamawa State, according to Sahara Reporters.
Zelani, 22, reportedly used his attacker’s assault dagger to stab him to death during an invasion of his farmland on 18 October 2015 in the state.
The convict, who has been standing trial for more than 5 years, was on 2 November handed a death sentence and would be hanged for stabbing an intruding herder, Ali, to death.
Justice Fatimah Ahmed Tafida of the High Court IV, sitting in Yola, the state capital, convicted Zelani, after he was tried and found guilty of culpable homicide punishable by death contrary to section 221(b) of the state penal code law.
The judge declared that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and that “the court hereby sentences you, Kabiru Zelani, to death by hanging until certified dead by a medical doctor”.
Zelani, a resident of Leme village in the Gombi Local Government Area, was said to have stabbed Ali to death during a fight over the destruction of his (Zelani) rice farm.
Zelani had narrated that “while working on my rice farm on 18 October 2015, the deceased came and put his animals on my rice farm. When I saw that the animals were destroying the crops, I confronted the herder; so he became provoked.
“The herder used his cutlass and struck me on my right hand, the evidence of which could be seen here, a scar, showing serious injury, and that he also pulled out his knife and tried to stab me, but I (Zelani) fell the herder on the ground.”

07 November 2021 :

An Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti on 2 November 2021 sentenced a 43-year-old man, Taiwo Afolabi, to death by hanging for robbery.
The judge, Justice Abiodun Adesodun, said, “The prosecution has led credible, cogent and compelling evidence to establish all the three essential elements of the offence of armed robbery against the defendant as charged.
“He is hereby sentenced to death by hanging. May the Lord have mercy on your soul.”
The convict was arraigned on one count of robbery.
The charge read, “Taiwo Afolabi, on 17 June 2017, at Oke Osun, Ikere Ekiti, robbed Pius Ayeni of his Lexus SUV with number plate, Lagos KTU 479 DM, and also robbed Aturamu Adesina of the sum of N43,000, Infinix Note 3 phone, among others. At the time of the robbery, he was armed with a gun.”
The police prosecutor, Oluwatoyin Marcus, said the offence was contrary to and punishable under Section 1(2)a of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Cap. R11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
In their statements to the court, the victims said they were coming from an event in an SUV when the defendant, who was their neighbour and whose voice they recognised, alongside three unknown gunmen, came out of hiding when they were alighting from the vehicle.
According to them, the gang hit them with cutlasses, collected the key of the vehicle, tied their hands and mouths and escaped with the SUV and other valuables.
According to the victims, the attack was reported to the police as the vehicle was tracked to Ore in Ondo State.

13 October 2021 :

A Kano State High Court on 12 October 2021 sentenced a man, Aminu Inuwa, to death by hanging for killing his wife Safara’u Mamman.
Inuwa, whose age was not provided by the court, lives at Gwazaye Quarters, Dorayi Babba, area of the state.
Justice Usman Na’abba held that the prosecution has proven its case beyond reasonable doubts.
Earlier, the Prosecution Counsel, Lamido Sorondinki, informed the court that the convict committed the offence on 2 April 2019 at Gwazaye Quarters Dorayi Babba Kano.
Sorondinki said that the convict slit his wife’s throat with a kitchen knife during an argument and buried her in an uncompleted room in his house situated at Dorayi Babba Kano.
The prosecution presented three witnesses and six exhibit to prove its case.
The convict, however, denied committing the offence.

11 October 2021 :

A High Court in Lokoja, Kogi State, on 29 September 2021 sentenced a middle-aged man, Danladi Ichado to death by hanging for stabbing two women to death.
Delivering judgment, Justice Nicodemus Awulu, held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt that the convict was presumed to have intended to kill the women based on the weapon he used.
The judge held that the evidence of Rekiya Rilwan (PW1), who was an eyewitness at the scene of crime had fixed the defendant and demolished his alibi.
Awulu therefore, convicted the defendant and sentenced him to death by hanging.
Earlier in the case, the prosecution led by Inedu Opaluwa, Senior Legal Officer with the state Ministry of Justice had told the court that Danladi Ichado of Odogomu, Ankpa Local Government Area of the state committed the alleged offence on 6 June 2020.
Charged with Culpable Homicide Contrary to Section 221(a) of the Penal Code, Ichado was said to have on 6th of June 2020 at Oko-Ojuwo, Ogaji in Ankpa, caused the death of the women by stabbing them with a short cutlass on the head and in the chest.
Opaluwa called six witnesses and tendered four exhibits while the defendant called one witness and gave evidence in his defence.
The prosecution alleged that the convict attacked Rabiyetu Yusufu and Jemila Yakubu with lethal weapon and therefore, urged the court to hold that he intended to kill the women based on the weapon he used.
He argued that with the weapon, Ichado inflicted injuries on their heads and chest penetrating deep and destroying vital organs, leading to their death.
According to him, the three women – Rabiyetu Yusufu, Jemila Yakubu and Rekiya Rilwan were going to farm on the fateful day when the defendant suddenly appeared from the bush wearing a face mask and pounced on them.
He said that the defendant initially escaped but was later caught and arraigned.
Ichado in his defence tried to establish an alibi that he was at home harvesting palm fruits on the day of the incident and therefore couldn’t have possibly been the one that attacked the women.

27 September 2021 :

A Jigawa State High Court sitting in Gumel on 5 August 2021 sentenced a 40-year-old man Rabi’u Mamman to death by hanging for killing his wife.
Presiding Judge, Justice Abubakar Sambo Muhammad said the convict was sentenced to death by hanging after finding him guilty of the offence.
Mamman of Medinlaban village in Gagarawa local Government had in 2016 followed his wife identified as Lamira into the bush, beat her with stick to death over a misunderstanding.
Justice Abubakar said the prosecution counsel proved the case beyond reasonable doubt and found the accused guilty of the offence which is contrary to section 221(B) of the penal code.
Delivering his judgment, Justice Abubakar said the accused was found guilty of the offence which is punishable with death.
“Five witnesses presented before the court proved beyond reasonable doubt that Rabi’u Mamman had committed the offence” he said.
Justice Abubakar, therefore, sentenced him to death by hanging to serve as a deterrent to others of like mind.

22 July 2021 :

A 37-year-old man, Adeyemi Morenikeji, on 16 July 2021 was sentenced to death in Oyo State for the killing of Mrs Racheal Ayanwale, his boss’s wife.
The accused Adeyemi Morenikeji was a former truck driver for the husband of the deceased.
In his confession when he was paraded at the Police headquarters of Eleyele Ibadan in April 2019, the accused said he killed his boss’s wife as revenge after he was sacked by his boss.
The accused said on 11 April 2019 he lured the woman out of her office on the pretext of helping her to find a spiritual solution to her marital problem.
He said, on the way to the ‘spiritual house’, “I strangled Mrs Ayanwale, left her body by the riverside, and went away with her Pontiac Vibe vehicle.”
One week after the murder, Morenikeji was arrested by the Oyo State Police Command in Sango-Ota, Ogun State, and has been prosecuted accordingly.
Justice Adenike Adeeyo of the High Court of Justice located on Awe road, Oyo State in her ruling on 16 July said after thorough deliberation by both the prosecuting counsel (state counsel) and the defense counsel the accused had no objection but pleaded for mercy.
Before delivering her judgement, Justice Adeeyo stressed that the court had gone through all the proof of evidence as provided by the list of witnesses and the list of exhibits such as the statement of the defendant, Vibe Pontiac car Lag. KJA 67 CY Itel cell phone (all found in possession of the accused when arrested), there was sufficient evidence to convict the accused.
The defense counsel prayed the court to temper justice with mercy.
In her 62 pages judgment, Justice Adenike Adeeyo said, “this Honourable Court hereby sentences you, Aderemi Morenike, to 14 years imprisonment with hard labour for count 11, for robbing late Racheal Oyewunmi Ayanwale of her Pontiac Car and phones.”
Justice Adeeyo also in her ruling in Count 1 said, “this Court sentences you, Aderemi Morenikeji, to death for count 1 of the murder of one Racheal Ayanwale.”

19 July 2021 :

Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Ikot Ekpene Local Government Area of the state on 16 July 2021 sentenced two police officers and three other persons to death for kidnapping in the state. The accused were sentenced to death for kidnapping an Uyo based cattle dealer one Alh Muhammed Umar Barkindo.
The court presided over by Justice Eno Isangedighi held that the accused were guilty of the offence.
She said: “the prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubts and found the accused guilty of conspiracy and kidnapping Alhaji Muhammad Umar Barkindo on 25 November 2011, an offense punishable by death in Section one subsection two of Akwa Ibom State Internal Security and Enforcement Law 2009.”
The condemned police officers are Corporal Friday Udo, a native of Ikot Inyang in Oruk Anam Local Government Area and Corporal Saturday Okorie of Ikot Etenge also in Oruk Anam who have since been dismissed from the Nigeria Police Force.
Others condemned to death were Walter Jack Udo, a native of Iwok Nsit in Nsit Atai, Udo Moses Akpaetuk of Ikot Ada Idem, Ibiono Ibom and Udo Okon Etim from Ikot Asua in Nsit Atai whose house was used for custody of the victim, while demanding N100million ransom.
The judgement laid to rest the 10 years trial of the 8-man squad who were also linked to the kidnap of a medical expert at the University of Uyo, Dr. Ini Enang in August 2011, a case which the court discharged and acquitted the accused for want of evidence.
Meanwhile, the three other accused persons died in the course of their trial with their names struck out by the court.

19 July 2021 :

A High Court in Abeokuta, on 16 July 2021 sentenced a 44-year-old man, Tosin  Shodunke to death by hanging for armed robbery.
Shodunke had pleaded not guilty to the two counts of conspiracy and armed robbery.
Delivering judgment, Justice Ayokunle Rotimi-Balogun, held that the court was convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the convict was guilty as charged.
Rotimi-Balogun, held that all evidence presented by the prosecution was tenable and therefore sentenced the convict to death by hanging.
Earlier during trial, the Senior state Prosecution Counsel, Mrs Akinola Oluwabunmi, told the court that the convict committed the offence on 2 September 2016, at about 9 pm at No 9, Ogunsanya street, Kugba Adatan area in Abeokuta.
Oluwabunmi said that the convict conspired with two others, now at large, while armed with a locally-made gun, entered into the Shop of Mr Clement Osinanchi, a trader and robbed him of N113, 000 cash.
The prosecutor said that the offences contravened the provisions of sections 6(b) and 1(2)(a) of the Robbery and Firearms (special provisions) Act, Cap Rll, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
Abeokuta is the state capital of Ogun State in southwest Nigeria.

13 July 2021 :

An Ekiti State High Court on 29 June 2021 sentenced a 24-year-old man, Sola Jegede, to death by hanging for robbing three men of their phones and money.
According to Punch newspaper, the convict was found guilty of using weapons, including a gun, knife, dagger and club to rob Ibukun Ilesanmi, Seun Ilesanmi and Tope Ilesanmi of their phones and undisclosed sums of money.
Justice Oluwatoyin Abodunde said, “The defendant is found guilty as charged on counts one, two and three for the offence of armed robbery.”
He said: “He is accordingly convicted and sentenced to death by hanging for the offence of armed robbery and may the Lord have mercy on his soul.”
The prosecutor, Omobola Oyewole, said the offences contravened Section 1(2)(a) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Cap. R11 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and Section 358 of the Criminal Code Law, Cap C16, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.
To prove his case, the prosecutor called seven witnesses and tendered as exhibits Blackberry and Nokia phones, a digger and a knife, among others, while the convict’s counsel, Adedayo Adewumi, called no witnesses.

07 July 2021 :

An Ogbia High Court sitting in Yenagoa on 28 June 2021 sentenced to death by firing squad a 39-year old man, Charles Nikson, for his involvement in the November 2020 thwarted abduction of Mrs. Vivian Okoye, the wife of a popular businessman and a medical practitioner in Bayelsa State.
Okoye, the wife of Obinna Okoye, also known as Blessed Obaino, who owns the A-Z Electronics shops in various parts of the Bayelsa capital, and a medical practitioner identified as Alex Ogregade Ileimokumo from Igbedi community of Southern Ijaw Local Government Council area, were rescued after a shootout with the men of the Operation Puff Adder.
Nikson, who was the driver to the kidnapping gang, was arraigned before the Ogbia High Court on the two count charge of conspiracy and kidnapping.
He was arraigned at the court with another suspect, David Ekegima.
Ekegima was discharged and acquitted.
The presiding Judge, Justice Ajunwa, while delivering her ruling on the matter, found Nikson guilty of the two charges.
She said: “On the charge of conspiracy, there is no specific term for the charge. And I hereby sentence you to 10 years imprisonment.”
Justice Anjunwa, also, declared him sentenced to death by firing squad.
There was a heavy shootout in November 2020 between operatives of “Operation Puff Adder” of the Bayelsa State Police Command and a seven-man kidnapping gang along the Imiringi areas of Ogbia Local Government Council of the state, leading to the rescue of Mrs. Vivian Okoye.

19 June 2021 :

A High Court in Ado Ekiti on 17 June 2021 sentenced a 22-year-old man, Kehinde Olajide, to death by hanging for armed robbery.
Delivering judgment, Lekan Ogunmoye, the judge, held that the prosecution had proven ingredients of armed robbery against Mr Olajide, without any reasonable doubt.
Also charged with Mr Olajide are Kareem Azeez, 24, Bamisile Lateef, 28, and Adebayo Basiru, 25.
Mr Ogunmoye, however, discharged Messrs Azeez, Lateef and Basiru of all charges.
“Olajide is hereby sentenced to death by hanging. May God almighty have mercy upon his soul.”
The prosecution said the offence is contrary to section 6(b), 3(1) and 1(b)(a) of robbery and firearms (Special provision) Act, Cap.R11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
The prosecution said the convict and others at various times in Ado Ekiti, armed with dangerous weapons, robbed Dayo Folorunsho, Saka Yusuf, Adeoye Oluwatosin, Adeola Oluwatobi, Olayemi Aremu, Hambali Ojo and Ayodele Oluwafemi of their belongings.
The prosecution said the convict and others stole Mobile phones, Lexus E5 350, recharge cards, Bajaj motorcycle, wrist watches, ZDX Acura and cash of N205,500.

16 February 2021 :

A State High Court in Benin City, Edo Sate, on 12 February 2021, sentenced a police constable, Joseph Omotosho, to death for conspiring with four other constables, said to be at large, to kill a car dealer in 2015.
The slain car dealer, Benson Obodeh, was suspected by the police to belong to a criminal gang.
Mr Omotosho, who was dismissed from the Nigerian police after the incident, served with the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a police unit that was notorious for its brutality and other forms of human rights abuses.
The four other dismissed constables were also convicted but not sentenced because they were not present in the court.
They were identified as Adeleke Adedeji, Abena John, Oniyo Musa, and Henry Shobowole.
The four were said to have escaped while on trial from one of the Medium Security Correctional Centres in Benin City during the October 2020 jailbreaks.
The judge, Ohimai Ovbiagele, found all the accused persons guilty on an eight-count charge, which included conspiracy to steal and murder.
From the court proceedings, the slain Mr Obodeh, 26, a Benin-based car dealer, was listed as a member of a criminal gang who allegedly stole a Peugeot car in Lagos.
He was said to have been arrested at his home in Benin City on 21 May 2015 and tortured to death the same day by the five police officers.

10 February 2021 :

Akwa Ibom State High Court on 8 February 2021 sentenced a 40-year-old man, Kufre Christopher Archibong, to death by hanging for armed robbery. Justice Okon Okon, found Archibong guilty for robbing one Bassey Isaac Akpan, a 43-year-old public servant in his residence, Nung Uyo Idoro, Uyo on 26 April 2017.
Justice Okon, who held that the accused be “hanged by the neck until he is dead”, prayed God to have mercy upon his soul.
The condemned robber was arraigned on 19 December 2017 for conspiracy to commit armed robbery and armed robbery, punishable under Sections 6 (b) and 1 (2) (a) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. 

04 February 2021 :

An Abeokuta High Court on 3 February 2021 sentenced a 33-year-old man, Ibrahim Toyin, to death by hanging for robbing a woman of her handbag at gunpoint.
Justice Ayokunle Rotimi-Balogun delivering her judgment held that all the evidence tendered had convinced the court beyond a reasonable doubt that Ibrahim committed the offences as charged.
She, subsequently, sentenced Ibrahim to death by hanging.
Earlier during the trial, the police had charged Ibrahim with two counts bordering on conspiracy and armed robbery.
Ibrahim, however, pleaded not guilty to the offences when he was initially charged.
At the trial, the Prosecution Counsel, Mrs Margret Sodeke, had told the court that Ibrahim committed the offences on 26 August 2012, at about 10:00 p.m., at Powerline junction, Sabo area of Sagamu.
She said that Ibrahim and others still at large conspired and robbed one Titilayo Eniola of her handbag containing some valuable items.

13 January 2021 :

A Nigeria Army General Court Martial on 12 January 2021 sentenced a soldier, Azunna Mmaduabuchi, to death by firing squad for killing an officer.
Mr Maduabuchi had in July 2020 reportedly opened fire on one Lieutenant Babankaka Ngorgi which killed him instantly.
The trial that led to the conviction of the condemned did not reveal if the soldier had any personal grudges with the officer he killed.
Mr Maduabuchi, a private soldier, pleaded guilty but argued that his action was accidental.
But PREMIUM TIMES was informed by inside military sources that the condemned soldier had once gone on AWOL which led to the stoppage of his salary for about six months.
The source said the soldier, who was serving at the 202-battalion in Bama, pleaded with the late Lieutenant Ngorgi, who was his Adjutant, to allow him travel to the state capital to sort out his salary issues, but his requests were repeatedly denied.
It was not certain if it was the issue that pitched the condemned soldier against the deceased officer.
Eight prosecution witnesses told the court-martial headed by Arikpo Ekubi, as president of the court, that they saw the condemned soldier at the scene of the crime still holding the AK47 rifle while the late Adjutant lay in a pool of his blood.
One of the PWs said he saw the private soldier match past him, without complimenting him as his senior as he walked up to the deceased adjutant who was at that time making a call and summarily opened fire on him.
“After opening a rapid action fire on him, the soldier turned to face me and then raised his hands to say” I have killed him”, the PW said.
The condemned soldier, according to the court-martial, failed to provide a convincing defence in his testimony.
“The accused person gave a conflicting narration of what happened, the President of the Court Martial said while ruling on the case.
“In his written statement the soldier said his rifle went off while he was passing by the deceased officer. And while asked in court to demonstrate how he was carrying his rifle, he told the court that the rifle went off while he was fetching water to drink.”
The court contended that rifles only respond to what it is asked to do.
The court-martial said Mr Mmaduabuchi deliberately killed the officer because he ran straight to the Adjutant after returning from a patrol and opened fire on him at close range.
“He held his rifle at rapid-fire and emptied nine rounds of ammunition on the deceased officer, N/16439 who was the Adjutant of 202 battalions,” the Court-Martial President said.
“The act of murder is a heinous crime against humanity; it offends the tenets of military regimentation and professionalism, You betrayed the truth and confidence reposed in you by the Nigerian army to show dignity and respect for human life.”
Barring all pleas for leniency by the defence counsel, the court-martial insisted that the act of murder has a mandatory punishment as clearly stipulated in Section 106 of the Armed Forces Act.
“On this note, the sentence of this court-martial on you, 16NA/75/1343, Trooper Azunna Mmaduabuchi, for the offence of murder is to suffer death as provided in section 106 of the Armed Forces Act. And this sentence is to be carried out by firing squad.,” the President of the Court-Martial ruled.

02 January 2021 :

Jigawa State High Court on 29 December 2020 sentenced two persons to death by hanging in different cases.
They are Jamilu Harisu and Mustapha Idris from Farko and Ringim local governments.
Jamilu Harisu was sentenced to death after he was found guilty of killing his father.
According to statement from the state Ministry of Justice, Harisu on 22 July 2019, attacked his father, Harisu Bako, 70, while he was working on his farm.
The convict injured his father on his head with a hoe. The injury led to his death, the statement said.
The statement added that the persecution team led by Jigawa State Attorney General, Musa Aliyu, presented four witnesses to the court, and also tendered a confessional statement and a medical report.
The defendant, on the other hand, did not call any witness. At the end of the trial, the court found him guilty, the statement noted.
The presiding judge, Ahmed Kazaure, ruled that the prosecution counsels had proven their case beyond reasonable doubt, and then sentenced Harisu to death by hanging.
He said the offence contradicts Section 221(b) of the Jigawa State Penal Code Law.
The judge, in another case, also sentenced Mustapha Idris, 29, of Daneji village in Ringim local government to death.
The statement said Idris had on 12 January 2020 at the outskirts of Daneji village, stabbed his girlfriend Nafisa Hashimu to death.
Justice Kazaure said the offence is contrary to Section 221(b) of the Jigawa State Penal Code Law.
Idris was, therefore, sentenced to death by hanging.

18 January 2022 :

Correctional centers across Nigeria house 3,602 death-row inmates, based on data obtained by the Premium Times newspaper.
The data is as of 14 December 2020, and it was obtained in confidence through prison record officials. There is no real-time official database breakdown of the nation’s inmates, and so the exact figure as of the time of this report could not be established. However, the interior minister said at a public event that the figure was about 3,008 as of August.
Of the total number of death row inmates as of December 2020, about 2,755, which represents over 76 per cent, were in prisons in 10 states. This means that about eight in ten inmates on death row in the country were in these states.
At the summit of this list are prisons in Rivers which held 430 inmates on death row. This was followed by Lagos with 360 condemned to death. Neighbouring Ogun housed 344 inmates. Enugu had 279. Delta had 252, Plateau 230, and Kano 153.
At the other end was Anambra with four inmates on death row and Nasarawa with three. All of Imo, Osun, Bayelsa, Kogi, Abia and Ebonyi had one each, while Oyo, Ekiti and the borstals in Ilorin, Kaduna, Abeokuta had none.
“There are presently 3,008 condemned criminals waiting for their date with the executioners in our meagre custodial facilities. This consists of 2,952 males and 56 females,” interior minister Rauf Aregbesola said in August.
“In cases where an appeal has been exhausted and the convicts are not mounting any challenge to their conviction, the state should go ahead, to do the needful and bring closure to their cases,” he added.

26 October 2021 :

The resident pastor of Kirikiri Correctional Centre, Apapa, Lagos, Pastor David, who was sentenced to death has been released.
He spent 14 years and seven months in prison.
David disclosed this in a special thanksgiving service on 25 October 2021 at the Celestial Church of Christ Global Genesis, Lagos.
The ex-convict, who was condemned to death for a crime he claimed he didn’t commit, gave gratitude to God for using the Shepherd-in-Charge of Genesis Global, Prophet Israel Ogundipe to bring him out of prison.
The pastor who was a transporter before his conviction said he had no case file and was waiting for the day he would be called up to die before Ogundipe intervened, Guardian reports.
“I had nobody. I was sentenced to death by hanging by Justice Olusola Williams in September 2013. I didn’t even have a case file. No father, no mother, no relatives, nobody to speak for me. Some people who came to preach, encouraged me and gave us palliatives, but nobody offered to help,” he said.
During the service, Ogundipe said their paths crossed in 2020, when he was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment for fraud.
Ogundipe, who spent five months in prison, said, “When I newly got into the prison, I was introduced to David, who was the resident pastor. Immediately, he handed over the microphone to me and I began holding church services in the prison. He gave me that opportunity to preach the gospel. As a result of his gesture, when I got out of custody, I didn’t forget him. He kept serving the Lord in prison and without informing him, I told myself, once I am out of here, I will do all I can to get him out. Getting him out today was not by my own strength but by the grace of God and the entire Genesis Global.”
He said God at times permits some circumstances to happen to some people as a way to answer their prayers.
According to him, it was the conspiracy that led him to prison that fast-tracked David’s release as he had no case file though he was sentenced to death.
As part of an effort to rehabilitate him into society, members of the church who were moved by David’s testimony donated over N500,000, a plot of land, a bag of rice, a bus for commercial use, household appliances and utensils, among others to resettle him after his prison years.”

08 September 2021 :

The Nigerian Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, on 23 July 2021 urged state governors to sign the death warrants of the 3,008 condemned criminals in the country waiting for execution. 
He advised the governors to sign the warrants, especially those whose appeals had been exhausted and were not mounting challenges to their convictions, as part of measures to de-congest prisons nationwide. 
Aregbesola, who spoke at the inaugurating of the Osun State Command headquarters complex of the Nigeria Correctional Service in Osogbo on 23 July, stressed the need to bring to closure the cases involving the inmates. 
The minister enumerated three avenues to de-congest prisons, saying governors could accelerate the wheel of justice, as many inmates had been in custody for a period longer than the maximum sentence their alleged offences carry. 
The minister described this as miscarriage of justice. 
Aregbesola also urged states to share in the burden of de-congesting custodial facilities by constructing holding centres. 
He said that all the states needed to do was to build the facilities to specification and set aside a sum for the maintenance of inmates, while the NCS provided the personnel to man and run the facilities. 
He said, “The third way is for state governors to summon the will to do the needful on death row convicts. There are presently 3,008 condemned criminals waiting for their date with the executioners in our meagre custodial facilities. This consists of 2,952 males and 56 females.
“In cases where appeal has been exhausted and the convicts are not mounting any challenge to their conviction, the state should go ahead, one, to do the needful and bring closure to their cases; two, set some others free on compassionate grounds, especially those who have grown old on account of the long time they have been in custody, those who are terminally ill and those who have been reformed and demonstrated exceptionally good behaviour; and three, commute others’ sentences to life or a specific term in jail.”

21 April 2021 :

The self-proclaimed atheist Mubarak Bala is still in detention in northern Nigeria after he was arrested by the police and taken to an unknown destination, according to his family and human rights organizations, Afp reported on 20 April 2021.
Bala was arrested on 28 April 2020 and has been held without charge since then.
His wife, Ahmina Ahmed, still waits for his return, but all seem to be in vain.
According to his advocates, the atheist is accused of writing a Facebook post criticizing the prophet of Islam, an act that is considered blasphemy and can carry a death sentence in Nigeria's conservative Muslim north where sharia law is enforced alongside common law.
Bala is the president of the Humanist Association of Nigeria, an organisation that describes itself as "the voice of humanism in Nigeria."
Some believe he was not detained because of his beliefs but because he was and still is an atheist.
"He was trying to change the dynamics... in the north," said Leo Igwe, a rights advocate and founder of the humanist group. "He was even saying he was going to contest elections."
In 2014, Bala was forcibly admitted by his own family to a psychiatric ward for 18 days because he said he did not believe in God.
His wife, Ahmina Ahmed said she did not know where the husband was detained in the first six months after he was arrested.
Ahmina was already pregnant when her husband was arrested.
She later found out that the husband had been taken to a prison in Kano, more than 200 kilometers away from where he was detained.
Bala’s troubles began in 2014 when he publicly renounced his Islamic faith, an act that is forbidden, a dishonor to the family, and punishable by death in accordance with Sharia laws.
His legal team has been working tirelessly since May 2020 and they had filed a petition seeking his release with the Federal High Court in Abuja.
His advocacy team said his detention violates his fundamental rights to liberty, a fair trial, freedom of thought and expression and freedom of movement according to the Nigerian constitution.
Bala's supporters are worried about his health in detention but also his security.
Others accused of blasphemy in northern Nigeria have been sentenced to death, and in one case in 2011, a man was beheaded in his cell by unknown individuals.
"There is a threat from private actors if they find out his location," said the UN's special rapporteur on freedom of religion, Ahmed Shaheed, but "it does not negate the state’s obligation to ensure that the rule of law is applied here."
Diplomats in Nigeria and international bodies have been treading carefully with Bala's case in part because of the risk of being seen as "anti-Islam".
But his wife is losing hope. She says she has developed eye problems from crying so much this past year.
"We have suffered enough. Whatever he has done, he should be charged, go on trial... I am not even asking for his release," said Ahmed, cradling her baby boy who just turned one.
"He’s stronger than us outside," she said. "But he’s caged. It’s not OK when you’re not free."

23 January 2021 :

A Kano state high court (appeal division) has set aside the death sentence imposed on Yahya Sharif Aminu, a Kano-based singer, convicted for blasphemy.
Nuraddeen Sagir, the state chief judge, who presided over the case, delivered judgement on 21 January 2021.
He said the trial was full of irregularities as the appellant was not given legal representation.
According to him, the judgement of an upper Sharia court contravened section 2-6-9 of the administration of criminal justice act.
The judge ordered that the case be re-tried at the same court and that the appellant should be given fair hearing.
Sagir also ordered that the appellant, who should be tried by another judge, should get full legal representation.
A Shariah court in Kano had sentenced the musician to death on 10 August 2020 after he was found guilty of committing blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad in a song.
This had sparked a nationwide outrage.
Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano, had said he would not waste time in signing Aminu’s death warrant.
The United Kingdom had opposed the death penalty passed on the singer, saying people have the right to freely express opinions and peacefully challenge authorities.
In October, Aminu’s lawyers filed an appeals at the state appeal court.
Sagir also set aside the judgement and sentencing of Umar Faruk, a 13-year-old boy who was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment over blasphemy.