NIGERIA: COURT SENTENCES MAN TO DEATH BY HANGING FOR STEALING N30,000 IN ONDO

March 18, 2016: A middle age man was sentenced to death by hanging by the Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure, the state capital for stealing N30,000 in an armed robbery attack.
The man, Tope Ekundayo, had been standing trial before the court presided by Justice Williams Olamide for a two count charge of armed robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery.
Mr. Ekundayo, 38, was said to have carried out the robbery at Adebobajo area of Akure last year and was found guilty as charged.
According to the charges brought against the suspect in court by the counsels to the state government, Mrs Sola Adeyemi-Tuki and Mrs Jumoke Ogunjebi, they told the court that the convict had robbed one Ibekwe Mercy of the sum of N30,000 and other valuables at gun point but was later apprehended by law enforcement agents.
The two counsels also produced five witnesses against Ekundayo in court.
Although counsel to the accused, Mrs. Toyin Asake of the Nigeria Legal Aid Council, pleaded for leniency for her client being a first offender, the trial judge in his verdict ordered that Ekundayo should die by hanging to serve as deterrent to others.
Justice Williams said his judgment was based on the strength of evidence brought against Ekundayo by the prosecuting counsel, which shows that the suspect was armed during the operation. (Sources: sirkenayo.com, 20/03/2016)