NIGERIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING WIFE, BROTHER-IN-LAW IN LAGOS

March 4, 2025:

A Lagos State High Court, presided over by Justice Sherifat Sonaike, at Tafawa Balewa Square, on February 27, 2025 sentenced Benjamin Ogundero to death by hanging for the murder of his wife, Chinyere Ogundero, and her brother, Ifeanyi Joseph, in April 2022. 
The court found Ogundero guilty of setting both victims on fire while they slept in their home in Abule-Ado, Lagos, following a domestic dispute.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Sonaike ruled that the prosecution had proven beyond doubt that Ogundero planned and carried out the attack.
Justice Sonaike said: “He devised, prepared, and executed the act. This is wickedness of the highest order,” the judge stated, condemning the defendant’s actions as one of the worst a person could inflict upon another.
In addition to the murder charge, Ogundero was also found guilty of arson and sentenced to life imprisonment, which will start from the date of conviction.
The prosecution team, led by Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mr. Martins Babajide, argued that the man had been angry over the fact that his wife owned the house they lived in, which she had bought while working in the bank.
This anger, it was said, was a key factor in his decision to commit the crime.