16 May 2024 :

A middle-aged man, Abdullahi Sani from Unguwar Makara Huta, on May 10, 2024 was sentenced to death by stoning by a Sharia Court in Ningi, the headquarters of Ningi Local Government Area of Bauchi State, for alleged homosexuality.
The judgment was delivered by Sharia Judge Abdullahi Aliyu Doya during a court session on May 10 with Sani found guilty of the offence as charged.
The Sharia Judge stated that the Court commenced hearing on the case on 02/05/2024 and closed it on 09/05/2024, for judgment and sentence, after listening to various arguments.
He explained that based on witness testimonies and the defendant’s admission of guilt, Abdullahi Sani was found guilty and sentenced to death by stoning in accordance with the provisions of sections 131, 132, and 133 of the Bauchi State Administration of Criminal Justice, 2001.
Recall that on July 1, 2022, a Sharia court in Ningi delivered judgment and sentenced three people to death by stoning for homosexuality.

11 May 2024 :

Nigeria's Senate on May 9, 2024 proposed significantly toughening penalties for drug trafficking, making the death penalty the new maximum sentence through a law amendment.
The amendment, which is not yet law, replaces life imprisonment, which was previously the harshest punishment.
Nigeria, Africa's most populous country of more than 200 million people, has in recent years gone from being a transit point for illegal drugs to a full-blown producer, consumer and distributor.
Opioid abuse, especially tramadol and cough syrups containing codeine, has been widespread throughout Nigeria, according to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, which banned production and import of codeine cough syrup in 2018.
While cannabis is cultivated locally, cocaine, methamphetamine and other narcotics are trafficked through the country alongside opioids to feed a growing addiction problem.
The legislation stemmed from a report by the Senate committees on judiciary, human rights and legal matters, and drugs and narcotics, which Senator Mohammed Monguno presented during May 9 plenary session.
Supporters argued the threat of execution would serve as a stronger deterrent to drug traffickers than life imprisonment.
Lawmakers who opposed the measure expressed concerns about the irreversible nature of the death penalty and the possibility of wrongful convictions.
The House of Representatives earlier passed the bill but without a death penalty provision. Five select members of the Senate and House will need to harmonize the two versions before it goes to the president.

14 February 2024 :

An Enugu State High Court on February 7, 2024 sentenced Chiamaka Ifezue to death by hanging for killing an Enugu-based makeup artist, Ijeoma Nweke.
The court, presided over by Honourable Justice Kenneth Okpe, in a two-hour judgement on February 7 found the accused, Chiamaka Ifezue, guilty of killing the victim by forcing her to drink a poisonous substance.
The corpse of the make-up artist was found around Maryland within Enugu Metropolis on November 16, 2020.
Nweke had left home on November 11, for a job but went missing afterwards.
Her supposed client, having refused to disclose the location for the job, asked the deceased to stop at the Enugu State Broadcasting Service (ESBS) bus stop, where she will then be taken to the venue.
Nweke, having perceived foul play, sent the client’s phone number to her brother via text.
Her phones were unreachable after hours leading to suspicion that she might have been kidnapped.
This led to a frantic search for her by friends and relatives until early on November 16 morning when her corpse was found at Maryland in Enugu.
Eyewitnesses said that her corpse was mutilated with a substance suspected to be acid.

01 July 2024 :

The Supreme Court on June 28, 2024 discharged and acquitted a Nigerian Army Sergeant, Akawu Bala from the death sentence imposed on him by the General Court Martial of the Nigerian Army.
While delivering judgment in an appeal filed at the Supreme Court on March 16, 2017, by Bala, Justice Helen Ogunwumiju discharged him from the death penalty.
Respite came the way of the embattled army sergeant when the five-man panel of justices unanimously discharged him after spending 12 years in Kaduna Correctional Centre waiting for ratification of the death sentence passed on him.
The Apex Court rejected the arguments of the army’s lawyer and thereafter ordered the immediate release of the convict from the correctional centre where he had been on remand since 2012.
Ogunwumiju agreed with Reuben Atabo, counsel to Bala that the Court of Appeal ought to have discharged the accused person having voided his trial and declared it a nullity.
She subsequently invoked section 193 of the Armed Forces Act 2014 and set the convict free adding that the ordinary meaning of section 193 of the Armed Forces Act 2014 is that the accused person can no longer stand another trial.
The Nigerian Army accused Bala of shooting one Isa Mohammed on December 9, 2012 when he was attached to the African Petroleum Station at Sabon Tasha, Kaduna with an AK47 gun.
The victim of the gunshot was said to have died on December 10, 2012, at Saint Gerald’s Catholic Hospital in Kaduna.
Following his indictment, he was put on trial on a murder charge punishable under section 106 of the Armed Forces Act 2014 before the General Court Martial on two count.
He was found guilty of murder and subsequently sentenced to death by hanging.
However, on Feb. 17, 2017, his appeal against the death penalty was upheld by the Court of Appeal, Kaduna division, on the ground that the charge sheet upon which he was tried and convicted was not signed by a General Commanding Officer as required by law.
Justice Obietonbara Kalo who read the Court of Appeal’s lead judgment declared the process of the trial and conviction of the Sergeant as a nullity but however refused to discharge him from the nullified trial, prompting further appeal to the Supreme Court.
Bala’s lead Counsel, Atabo, had argued on behalf of the convict that having declared the trial of his client, a nullity, the Court of Appeal ought to have made a consequential order to discharge the accused person from the flawed trial.
He drew the attention of the apex court to section 193 of the Armed Forces Act 2014 which prohibited the retrial of any military personnel after his trial has been voided and set aside.
The Nigerian Army through its lead counsel, Isaac Udoka vehemently objected to the arguments of the defence appellant and prayed that the apex court should order the retrial of the convict in the interest of justice.
Bala had in his defence claimed that he fired a shot at Isa Mohammed and one other person when they were walking towards him in the dark at the African Petroleum Station.
He equally claimed that his order for them to go back was rebuffed prompting him to fire at them before they could capture him.
The convict claimed that he fired the gun at the two men because it was during the peak of Boko Haram activities in Kaduna that they were walking towards him in the dark.

13 June 2024 :

In commemoration of Democracy Day on June 12, 2024, the Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, granted pardon to 13 inmates serving various jail terms in the state.
Also, the Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, commuted the death sentence of 45 condemned inmates to prison terms while the Governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sani, on June 11 pardoned 110 prisoners in the spirit of Democracy Day.
A statement by Mutfwang’s Director of Press and Public Affairs, Gyang Bere, said the governor pardoned 13 inmates based on recommendations of the Plateau State Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy.
Bere quoted Mutfwang as saying “In exercise of the powers conferred upon me under Section 212 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, I, Barrister Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, Governor of Plateau State, Nigeria, after consultation with the State Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy, do hereby exercise my power of Prerogative of Mercy.”
The governor said the beneficiaries had shown remorse for their crimes, based on the recommendations from the Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy.
He urged the public to focus on dialogue and reconciliation for a progressive and prosperous state, highlighting democracy as the best model for addressing national challenges.
In Ogun State, Abiodun, on June 12, freed 41 inmates serving various jail terms across the correctional centres in the state while another 45 prisoners on death row had their death sentences commuted to imprisonment.
Abiodun announced the pardon in his Democracy Day speech at the June 12 Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta.
Nigeria celebrates Democracy Day on June 12, commemorating the June 12, 1993 presidential election adjudged as the freest and fairest in the country’s democratic history.
The day is also to celebrate the acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential poll, the late MKO Abiola.
The June 12, 1993, presidential poll was annulled by the Gen Ibrahim Babangida military junta, while Abiola was jailed by the late dictator, Gen Sani Abacha, who would later hijack power from Interim President Ernest Shonekan.
Abiola died in detention in July 1998, fighting to reclaim his electoral mandate.
Speaking at the Democracy Day celebration, the Ogun State governor, Abiodun, described the late Abiola as a trailblazer and worthy son of Ogun State.
Abiodun said it was regretted that Abiola died in prison shortly before the benevolent military government of Gen Abdusalam Abubakar began releasing political prisoners following Abacha’s death.
Earlier on June 11, Governor Sani of Kaduna State pardoned 110 in commemoration of the June 12, Democracy Day.
Sani, who visited the Nigerian  Correctional Centre in the state capital,  urged the released convicts to reform and acquire skills so as to become useful members of society.
“I came to this custodial centre today with mixed feelings. We are celebrating our Democracy Day, a day set aside to pay tribute to those who made sacrifices so that we can live in freedom.
“I am also here to see our brothers and sisters who found themselves on the wrong side of the law.
“I am releasing a total number of 110 convicts today to mark the celebration of our one year in office and more importantly, to celebrate the 2024 June 12, Democracy Day.
“I have been so disturbed with the high rate of inmates either awaiting trials or those whose trials have begun but are still ongoing, while those who have been convicted with fine or option of fine also makes the number.
“I urge all of you who are about to be released to reciprocate our gesture by being of good character henceforth. Try and acquire one or two skills,” the governor said.

30 September 2024 :

The Oyo State High Court, sitting in Ibadan, on September 24, 2024, sentenced three persons to death by hanging for the murder of Col. Anthony Okeyin, the commandant of Nigeria Army Secondary School, Apata, Ibadan.
The three convicts sentenced to death by hanging are Agada Solomon, Taiwo Adeniyi and Bibisoye Kehinde.
Justice Ezekiel Ajayi also sentenced the three to 14 years imprisonment each for the offences of conspiracy and armed robbery.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that six defendants were arraigned in the case in 2016 on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, murder and armed robbery.
The three other defendants, Ewere Andrew, Udobata Oruza – Uzie and Ephraim Obi, were discharged and acquitted.
The judge found the convicts guilty on count one of conspiracy, count two of murder, count three of conspiracy and four of armed robbery.
“The first, second and third defendants gave confessional statements while the phone of the deceased commandant was found with the first defendant and are therefore convicted accordingly.
“The only offence of the sixth defendant, Ephraim Obi, is that his Camry car was used to commit the crime.
“However, establishing by evidence, therefore, Ewere Andrew, Udobata Oruza-Uzie, and Ephraim Obi are not guilty of armed robbery and are discharged and acquitted,” Ajayi said.
Earlier, the counsel to the convicts, Mr F.O. Awonusi, in his allocutus, urged the court to temper justice with mercy.
At trial, the prosecuting counsel, Mrs K. K. Oloso, had alleged that the convicts committed the offences on Dec. 12, 2016, at 6:15 a.m.
The prosecutor had informed the court that the defendants conspired at the Commandants Quarters of Nigeria Army Secondary School, Apata, Ibadan, to murder Col. Anthony Okeyin.
”The defendants allegedly caused the death of Okeyin, age 52, by breaking his skull while armed with an offensive weapon and robbed him of his Samsung X4 phone and N45,000 cash,” Oloso said.
She said the offence was contrary to Section 316 and punishable under Sections 319 and 324 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Oyo State, 2000.
Oloso said that the offence also contravened Section 1(2) (a) and (b) and Section 6 (b) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

01 August 2024 :

A watchmaker, Oludayo Oladele, an electrician, Awodeji Muyiwa, and a herb seller, Jelili Kareem on July 9, 2024 were sentenced to death for robbing and killing a corps member, Adebayo Mukaila in Osogbo, Osun State capital.
Kareem, Oladele and Muyiwa on January 28, 2020, in the Omo-West area robbed and killed Adebayo, corps member and recharge card vendor at his shop in the presence of his daughter.
They pleaded not guilty when they were first arraigned with a vulcaniser, Anifowose Biliaminu, who they sold the robbed recharge card to, before Justice Adedapo Adeniji of an Osun State High Court on October 8, 2020.
They were arraigned on six counts charge of conspiracy, armed robbery, illegal possession and murder.
During the trial, a prosecutor from the Ministry of Justice, Muyiwa Ogunleye called four witnesses, 10-year-old daughter of the deceased, his elder brother, a pathologist and the Investigative Police Officer, IPO.
He told the court that the convicts conspired to rob and kill one Mukaila of his phone, recharge card and other valuables.
According to him, Biliaminu also received recharge card stolen from Mukaila.

25 July 2024 :

A High Court sitting at Asaba, the Delta State capital, on July 16,2024 sentenced one Onuwa Ijie to death, and Nwanozie Uzor to 14 years imprisonment for murder and conspiracy to commit the murder of twin boys, Chidalu and Chigozie Agwunobi.
The court presided over by Justice Onome Marshal-Umukoro sentenced two convicts over the murder of the seven-year-old boys.
The prosecution conducted by a Deputy Director in the Ministry of Justice, Mrs Paula Akpoguma, in proof of the case called five witnesses.
The court held that the testimony of the five witnesses proved the case against the two defendants beyond reasonable doubt.
The prosecution stated that tragedy struck the family of Olise Agwunobi of Oko-Ogbele Community on March 5, 2020, when their seven-year-old twin boys were lured by the defendants to a bush and they proceeded to cut off their penis, eyes, tongues and hands which they hurriedly took to a native doctor at Aguleri in Anambra State.
“One of the defendants had earlier gone to the school of the twin children to take them but was turned down by the school teacher, one Mrs Emelda Ezekwude,” she said.
Delivering his judgment, Justice Marshal-Umukoro stated that after carefully evaluating the evidence presented before him, the prosecution had discharged the burden of proof as the first defendant from his confessional statement was the person who introduced the idea of human rituals to the second defendant by providing the phone number of Chukwudi Edemuzor, who was allegedly seeking twins for ritual purposes.
The court maintained that the law is settled that the testimony of an investigating police officer was not hearsay evidence, and the court can rely on it.
Speaking with journalists after the judgment on July 16, the prosecuting counsel, Akpoguma thanked the court for upholding the cause of justice, “reaffirming that the judicial system works.”

17 July 2024 :

A Delta State High Court sitting at Ibusa, Oshimili North Local Government Area on July 1st, 2024 sentenced two men, Mr Ojerbo Solomon and Mr Ola Babatunde, to death after eight years of trials.
The court presided over by Justice M.O. Omovie convicted and sentenced the two men for murder, armed robbery and rape offences.
The prosecution led by Mr. E.H. Edema had, through its five witnesses, led evidence to show that on February 8, 2016, the two defendants, while armed with guns, cutlasses, and knives broke into the house of the victims.
“In the course of the armed robbery, the defendants raped the victims and thereafter slit their throats.
“One of the victims, Mr Praise Sunday, survived the attack, but his mother and sister died from the attack.
“After committing the attack, the two defendants escaped on the victim’s motorcycle to Ewohimi in Edo State, from where they were later apprehended by the police,” he said.
During the trial, the two defendants gave evidence in their defence and denied the allegation in their testimony but called no witnesses.
Justice Omovie in his judgement stated that after carefully evaluating the evidence presented at the trial, he concluded that the prosecution had proved the case against the two defendants beyond reasonable doubt, and accordingly convicted both defendants as charged.
“The two defendants are hereby sentenced to death by hanging,” he held.

04 July 2024 :

Five men standing trial for the abduction and murder of a Fulani herder, Ibrahim Adamu, who until his death was selling cows at Owode-Ede, Osun State, were on July 2, 2024 sentenced to death by hanging by an Osun State High Court.
After Adamu’s abduction, he was said to have been moved into a secluded place in his Toyota Corolla car.
The victim was later killed despite paying N3 million ransom after he identified one of the perpetrators of the crime.
The defendants: Ibrahim Issa, Lateef Bello, Abdul Ramon Soliu, Bello Ibrahim and Abudu Mumini Jolaanobi Saheed, were first arraigned before the court on October 28, 2021, for offences bordering on conspiracy, kidnapping and murder.
Arraigned before Justice Kudirat Akano of the State High Court, sitting in Ede, the charges pressed against the defendants were said to be contrary to Sections 324, 319 and 364 of the Criminal Code Laws of Osun State.
But they all pleaded not guilty to the four counts pressed against them by the state.
Stating the facts of the matter during the trial, the lead prosecuting counsel from the Ministry of Justice, Mr. Moses Faremi, told the court that the defendants abducted Adamu on April 17, 2018, around 7:45 pm at his residence located at Owode-Ede, Osun State.
When he appeared before the court, one of the prosecution witnesses, the Investigating Police Officer in charge of the matter, Mr. Ganiyu Taofeek, tendered exhibits including extrajudicial statements and a mask allegedly used by the defendants, which dropped at the scene of the crime during the struggle between the perpetrators and the victim.
Taofeek also told the court that while Adamu was in the custody of the abductors, he identified one of the perpetrators, which made those involved in the crime kill him.
He also said a member of the gang, Abdu Mumini, having realised that Adamu had identified one of them, directed other members of the gang including three Togolese, who are yet to be arrested, to slaughter the victim.
The police officer also said after Adamu had been killed, Abdul Mumini went away with the head and heart, while Soliu, another member of the gang, took the deceased’s arms.
The remains of the deceased were thereafter said to have been dumped inside the Osun River.
The IPO further said Abdu Mumini in his confessional statement narrated in detail why the gang killed Adamu and how they shared the ransom they collected from the victim’s family.
While addressing the court, the defence counsel, Mr. Bola Ige, said the charges pressed against his clients had not been proved beyond reasonable doubt by the prosecuting counsel.
Also, Folashade Ipede of the Legal Aid Council, pleaded with the judge to temper justice with mercy.
Delivering her judgement, Justice Akano found the five men guilty of all the counts preferred against them.
She accordingly sentenced them to death by hanging.

20 June 2024 :

The Jigawa State High Court sitting in Birnin Kudu on June 14, 2024 sentenced two persons to death for conspiring and killing Yakubu Ibrahim and dumping his dead body by the roadside.
The suspects were arraigned before the court for conspiring and robbing the deceased of his phone, money and taking away his car, after killing him.
The offence was said to have been committed on August 30, 2021, along the Kano-Maiduguri Road at Kantoga roadside in Birnin Kudu Local Government Area of Jigawa State.
Prosecution counsel called four witnesses and tendered four exhibits in the case thereby proving the case beyond reasonable doubt.
The presiding judge, Justice Musa Ubale said the convicts were all found guilty on all the three count charges and as such they were sentenced to life imprisonment each on the offence of criminal conspiracy.
On the offence of robbery, they were all sentenced to 21 years imprisonment without the option of fine.
The court, however, sentenced the convicts on the last count to death by hanging pursuant to sections 97 (1), 298 (1) (a) and 221 (b) of the Penal Code respectively.
The convicts were given three months’ right of appeal.

15 June 2024 :

An Ekiti State High Court, Ado Ekiti Division, on June 13, 2024 sentenced four persons to death by hanging for armed robbery, murder and conspiracy.
The court also convicted and sentenced the defendants to life improvement for attempted murder.
They are Ogunleye Sola, Adebayo Ebenezer, Lasisi Afeez and Ojo Oba.
The charge read, “The defendants committed the offences on May 29, 2017, at Oyan Orete Camp, Ijan Ekiti where the occupants of the camp were robbed at gunpoint and one Olasunkanmi Ramon was murdered while Alhaji Adeleye Usman was attacked with a cutlass on the head by the defendants.
“The offences committed by the four defendants are contrary to Section 6(b) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Cap. R11, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2004; Murder and Attempt to Murder contrary to sections 319(1) and 320 of the Criminal Code Law, Cap.C16, Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.”
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Julius Ajibare, who prosecuted the case for Ekiti State, called five witnesses and tendered seven exhibits to prove his case.
The defendants spoke through their counsel, Chris Omokhafe and Oluwaseun Banji, who gave evidence in their defence and called two other witnesses.
In the judgment, Justice Olukayode Ogundana held that the prosecution proved all the offences against the defendants beyond reasonable doubt.
The judge consequently convicted all the defendants and sentenced them to death by hanging for the offences of conspiracy, armed robbery and murder just as he sentenced them to life imprisonment for attempted murder.

05 June 2024 :

A High Court in Birnin Kebbi on June 3, 2024 sentenced a woman, Farida Abubakar, to death by hanging for killing her former husband, Chief Magistrate Attahiru Muhammad-Ibrahim.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports Abubakar was arraigned before the court for murder on August 25, 2022, while the main charge was filed on July 26, 2023.
The prosecution said that the convict stabbed her ex-husband with a sharp object on his abdomen, neck and left arm, which led to his death.
Delivering judgment, the Chief Judge of the state, who adjudicated on the case, Justice Umar Abubakar, held that the court was convinced that the accused person committed the crime, based on the evidence adduced by the prosecution.
In mitigation, the defence counsel, Mudashiru Sani, holding brief for Abdulnasir Sallau, described the convict as first time offender with aged parents.
The counsel said that the convict was her parents’ caregiver and also has a young daughter in need of motherly care.
He pleaded with the court to give the convict lighter sentence, so that she could finish her time and come back to the society as a reformed individual, considering her age.
In reply, the Prosecuting Counsel, who is the Director, Public Prosecution in the state Ministry of Justice, Lawal Hudu-Garba, enjoined the court to follow the letter of the law to serve as deterrent to others from committing the same offence.
Shortly after the judgment, the defence counsel, Sani, said, his client would appeal the verdict.

28 May 2024 :

An Ekiti State High Court, Ado Ekiti division, on May 23, 2024 sentenced two persons, Benjamin Joseph (32), and Stephen Orban (25), to death by hanging for robbing two persons of cash and valuable items.
The convicts were arraigned on December 30, 2022, on a four-count charge bordering on conspiracy and armed robbery.
The charge read, “On 16th August 2022 along Iluomoba Road, Aisegba Ekiti did conspire to commit a felony, to wit; armed robbery.
“As at the time of the robbery, they were armed with locally made guns, knives, and cutlasses and did rob Daramola Christiana and Ajayi Alaba of their belongings such as phones, power bank, creams, drugs, ATM Cards, and N105,000 cash among others.
“The offences are contrary to Sections 6(b) and 1(2)(a) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Cap. RII, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004,” the charge stated.
In her testimony before the court, one of the victims, a trader, said that four armed men attacked them at a barricaded point at Aisegba Ekiti along Omuo – Ado Ekiti Road.
The victim said, “They collected our phones, power bank, other valuables, and a cash sum of N105,000.00 and ran into the bush. I was rescued by a sympathizer, but the driver drove back to Omuo and made a formal complaint to the police”.
The prosecutor, Ibironke Odetola, called six witnesses and tendered charms, phones, camouflage underwear, a hammer, three hoods, fake Dollar notes, and cutlasses among others as exhibits, while the defendants spoke in their defence through their lawyer, Adeyinka Opaleke, and called no witnesses.
In the judgment on May 23, Justice Blessing Ajileye, who said the prosecution proved the case beyond reasonable doubt that there was an armed robbery on 16th August 2022, found the two persons guilty.
The judge pronounced, “Consequently, the sentence of this court upon Benjamin Joseph and Stephen Orban is that they are hanged by the neck until they are dead, may God have mercy on your souls”.

07 May 2024 :

An Ekiti State High Court, Ado Ekiti Division, has sentenced three persons, Oyebanji Sola, Jimoh Azeez and Ogunlade Babatunde, to death by hanging for armed robbery.
The court on May 6, 2024, further sentenced 28-year-old Babalola Bidemi to 10-year-imprisonment for receiving stolen goods.
It, however, discharged and acquitted another, 26-year-old Akinwale Oluwaseun, of all the charges for being innocent.
The five defendants were arraigned on January 30, 2020, on five counts bordering on conspiracy, armed robbery, receiving stolen properties and membership in a secret cult.
According to the charge, “the defendants, Babalola Bidemi (28), Akinwale Oluwaseun (26), Oyebanji Sola (31), Jimoh Azeez (31) and Ogunlade Babatunde (28) on 3/10/2018 at Oke Oniyo Street, Ado Ekiti, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, did conspire to commit felony, to wit; armed robbery.
“The defendants on same date did rob Tijani Omowumi and Ogunrinde Olumide of their phones, plasma television, wristwatch, necklace, shirts, trousers, shuttle bag, and cash sum of N5,000 among others.
“As at the time of the robbery, they were armed with a big stick, club, stone, cutlasses and gun, the offences are contrary to Sections 6(b), 1(2)(a) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Cap.RII, Vol. 14, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and Section 4(1) of the Secret Cults (Abolition and Prohibition) ( First Amendment) Law, No. 6 of 2017”.

23 April 2024 :

An Osun State High Court sitting in Osogbo, on April 18, 2024 sentenced Wasiu Afolayan (36) and Kola Adeyemi (34), to death by hanging for offences bordering on conspiracy and armed robbery.
The presiding judge, Ayo Oyebiyi, passed a guilty verdict on the two men after it was established that they were serial robbers, who had engaged in many robbery operations within Osogbo metropolis.
The defendants had been arraigned on four counts of conspiracy, armed robbery, armed robbery, and unlawful possession of arms.
The offences were contrary to and punishable under Section 3(1) of the Robbery and Firearms (special provisions) Act, Cap R.11, Laws of Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
But while taking their plea, the defendants pleaded not guilty to the offences pressed against them.
The prosecutor from the Ministry of Justice, Mr. Bewaji Adeniji, during the trial, told the court that on December 7, 2018, at a place near C.A.C No. 16, Oke-Onitea Area, Osogbo, Wasiu Afolayan and Kola Adeyemi laid siege on the area and robbed residents.
Afolayan, who was arrested at the scene of the crime, during interrogation, told the police, about Adeyemi’s involvement which led to him being arrested in Ikire town.
Before they were caught, the same gang, had on November 26, 2018, engaged in a robbery operation at No. 3, Oduola, Street, Igbona Area, Osogbo, where they shot dead one Olaniyi Adewale.
Also during the trial, Adeniji called six witnesses and tendered several exhibits including the extra-judicial statements made at both Divisional Police Headquarters and SCID in Osun Command Headquarters.
The defence counsel, Mr Ayodele Olaniyan, pleaded for the court’s leniency, saying his clients were first-time offenders.
But Justice Oyebiyi while delivering his judgement said that prosecuting counsel was able to prove the charges against the defendants beyond reasonable doubt.
He found the defendants guilty of the offences bordering on armed robbery, and he subsequently sentenced them to death by hanging.

16 April 2024 :

A Nigerian court on March 26, 2024 sentenced a Chinese national to death after finding him guilty of killing his girlfriend, a government official told The Associated Press, vowing to recommend execution if he unsuccessfully appeals the ruling.
Frank Geng-Quangrong was convicted by a local court in northern Nigeria's economic hub of Kano state, Kano Justice Commissioner Haruna Dederi said. Geng-Quangrong had pleaded not guilty.
"This is a signal that whoever is coming to a society should be prepared to comply with the extant laws of that society," Dederi said.
Death sentences for capital offenses are common in Nigeria and sometimes involve foreigners. A Danish man in 2022 was sentenced to die by hanging for killing his wife and daughter.
However, executions rarely occur as they require approvals by state governors. Only two warrants for death sentences have been signed since 1999, according to Inibehe Effiong, a Nigerian human rights lawyer.
Geng-Quangrong was accused of stabbing his girlfriend, 22-year-old Ummukulsum Sani, in September 2022 at a Kano residence. Local media quoted him as saying he stabbed her in self-defense.
He has up to three months to appeal his sentence at Nigeria's Court of Appeal.

14 April 2024 :

A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, on March 18, 2024, convicted and sentenced five people to death by hanging for the murder of Umezuruike Alex, the commander of a local vigilante codenamed OSPAC (Onelga Security Peace and Advisory Committee) in Omudioga community in the Emohua Local Government Area of the state.
The court decreed that the convicts should be hanged or administered lethal injection until they are confirmed dead.
The convicts, Okechukwu Orji from the Atali community in Obio-Akpor; Igwe Promise, Iheanyi Igwe, Morrison Igwe, from Omudioga in Emohua LGA; and Goodness Monday from Akwa Ibom State, were found guilty of 10 counts of conspiracy, cultism, murder, and illegal possession of firearms.
The trial Judge, Justice Sika Aprioku, in his judgment, discharged and acquitted the sixth defendant in the suit, Alex Deiwe.
Justice Aprioku held that the prosecution counsel, Essien Edet, proved his case against the other five convicts on charges of conspiracy, cultism, illegal possession of firearms, and murder and, therefore, convicted and sentenced them to be hanged or administered lethal injection until they are confirmed dead.
The court also found that the convicts not only murdered the OSPAC commander of the Omudioga community but were also involved in kidnapping and other criminal activities in parts of the state before their arrest and commencement of prosecution.
Speaking to newsmen outside the courtroom, the prosecution counsel, Essien Edet, who is a legal officer at the Rivers State Police Command, expressed happiness over the judgment, which he described as justice well served. Edet further said it would serve as a deterrent to others who are involved in such crimes.
He stated, “I can say that justice has been served. It is a case of the murder of the former OSPAC Commander of the Omudioga community in Emuoha LGA. The case has been on for years. It was a case in which this OSPAC Commander was gruesomely murdered and dismembered by this group of criminals.
“Today, the court has finally given judgment on the matter, and I believe justice has been served. It is a lesson to all those who are going about committing heinous crimes, killing people, taking the lives of human beings as if such are not valuable that justice is also coming after them except they repent.”
PUNCH Metro reported that the former OSPAC commander was killed in 2021, beheaded, and other parts of his body dismembered by the cultists who saw him as a threat to their criminal activities in the area.

03 April 2024 :

Taraba state chief judge, Justice Joel Agya, on March 8, 2024, sentenced one Yusufa Adamu and Adamu Abdullahi to death by hanging for kidnapping Balkisu Kambe and Maryam Musa in Gashaka Local Government area of the State.
Agya, who delivered the judgment at the Taraba High Court 1 in Jalingo said the prosecution counsel has proved beyond reasonable doubt that the duo committed the crime in 2019.
He also found them guilty on the charges of criminal conspiracy and illegal possession of firearms, and he sentenced each of them to 10 years without the option of a fine for each of the offences making it 20 years each.
The judge explained that the sentence on criminal conspiracy and illegal possession of firearms would take effect from 2019 when they were arrested and detained.
According to him, the defendants had made confessional statements individually about the kidnapping of Balkisu Kambe at Angwan America in Baruwa on Sept 29, 2019, and that of Maryam Musa on Sept 2, 2019, at Serti and others in Gashaka Local Government area where they collected ransom.
He noted that one of the victims, Kambe identified the defendants as members of the gang that abducted her in her house when they could not find her husband in his room on that day, saying they unmasked themselves when they took her to the bush for two days before her husband sent them N1,000,000 ransom.

13 March 2024 :

The Ekiti State High Court has handed down a death sentence to 30-year-old Bello Abduquadri, convicted of armed robbery, Bnnbreaking reported on March 11, 2024. The court determined that Abduquadri's actions, involving the theft of a phone and motorcycle at gunpoint, merited the capital punishment.
The incident, which occurred on March 22, 2022, saw Abduquadri and accomplices, now at large, attack Owolabi Taiwo and his brother.
Armed with guns and cutlasses, they threatened the lives of their victims before making off with a phone and a Jincheng Lady Motorcycle.
The subsequent investigation led to Abduquadri's arrest after the victim received a call from Iyara Police Station in Kogi State, directing him to present proof of ownership for the stolen items.
During the trial, the prosecutor, Adeola Johnson, presented three witnesses and submitted several pieces of evidence, including the defendant's statements, motorcycle particulars, and a search warrant.
Despite the defense's plea for mercy, Justice Olalekan Olatawura found Abduquadri guilty of both conspiracy and armed robbery.
The judge sentenced him to seven years in prison for conspiracy and decreed the death penalty for the armed robbery charge.

06 February 2024 :

The Kano State High Court on January 25, 2024 sentenced five vigilante members to death by hanging for stabbing one Ahmed Musa,17, to death.
The convicts, Korau Sani, Elisha Ayuba, Irimiya Timothy, Auwalu Jafar, and Mustafa Haladu, attached to the Sani Abacha Youth Centre, were convicted on a two-count charge bordering on criminal conspiracy and culpable homicide.
Delivering judgment, the chief judge of Kano State, Justice Dije Abdu-Aboki, held that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The prosecution counsel, Lamido Sorondinki, informed the court that the defendants committed the offence on January 22, 2022, in Sabon Titi Panshekara, Kano.
Mr Sorondinki said that on the same date, at about 10:00 a.m., the defendants conspired and attacked the deceased (Mr Musa) while he was crossing Sabon Titi Panshekara Road.
“The defendants came out of a tricycle and started beating the deceased with a long wooden hard stick (Gora), and in the process, the deceased held the stick.
“In the process, the first defendant used a long sharp knife and stabbed the deceased on his neck and dragged him on the ground and put him in the said tricycle and took him away.
Earlier in their testimonies, the defendants claimed that they approached the deceased to arrest him because of some complaint lodged against him, but he resisted.

04 March 2024 :

Justice Olubunmi Abike-Fadipe of a Special Offences Court, Ikeja, on January 31, 2024 convicted and sentenced a man, Emmanuel Iwuno, to death by hanging for armed robbery.
Iwuno was also sentenced to 21 years imprisonment for conspiracy to commit robbery, after the court found him guilty as charged. He was arraigned on a two count charge bordering on conspiracy to commit robbery and armed robbery.
The prosecution said his offences were contrary to the provision of Sections 299 and 297(2) (a) of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2015.
While delivering judgment, the court held that the prosecution proved the case against the defendant beyond reasonable doubt.
The judge also upheld the testimony of Prosecution Witness (PW1) and victim of the robbery, Obinna Mbah, who told the court that on March 8, 2020, he was approached by four men who robbed him of his car, along Thomas Onyemachi Street, Afromedia Junction, Okokomaiko. Mbah had told the court that one of the men, covering his face with a mask, forced him to lie down on the ground, threatened him with a gun, and took his Infinix phone and money while the other robbers drove away in his car.
The witness said he boarded a motorcycle and gave a hot chase, alongside other motorcyclists. Abike-Fadipe held that Mbah appeared truthful and that both his oral evidence and written statement to the police sustained the elements of his story. During the trial, the convict denied writing a statement and thumb printing on it. He told the court that the police arrested him while he was at a tea shop at the area of the robbery because he wore similar clothes as the suspect.
However, the judge questioned why he did not call either his wife or the tea vendor as witnesses. Abike-Fadipe held that while there is no obligation on the convict to produce evidence to prove he is not guilty of the crime, Iwuno had a strong case against him, thus he needed to make a case to defend himself.
Earlier, the prosecution, led by Adebanke Ogunode, had told the court that cartridges, including a locally made cut-to-size single-barreled pistol, were found in the car after it crashed.

22 January 2024 :

A High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on January 18, 2024 sentenced to death three men on charges of kidnapping and murder.
Although four suspects were arraigned in court for the kidnap of late Chief Abbot Ogbobula in June 2017, only three were convicted.
The fourth suspect was discharged and acquitted.
The three men identified as Boma Thompson, Emelike Mathias, and Daniel Thankgod, were convicted on four charges of conspiracy to kidnap, kidnapping, conspiracy to murder, and murder of late Chief Abbot Ogbobula.
In June 2017, late Chief Ogbobula was kidnapped in Ahoada and taken to Manikin Bush in Degema LGA where he was held hostage and eventually died.
He was buried in a shallow grave in the said bush but his body was later exhumed in the course of a police investigation of the case.
In respect of count one (conspiracy to kidnap), the 1st, 2nd and 4th defendants were convicted and sentenced to seven years imprisonment with no option of fine.
For count two ((kidnapping of Late Chief Abbot Ogbobula), the 1st, 2nd and 4th defendants were convicted and sentenced to death by hanging.
In count three (conspiracy to murder Late Chief Abbot Ogbobula) the 1st, 2nd and 4th defendants were convicted and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment with no option of fine.
While for count four (murder of Chief Abbot Ogbobula), the 1st,2nd and 4th defendants were convicted and sentenced to death by hanging or by lethal injection.

12 January 2024 :

A Niger state High Court has convicted and sentenced to death by hanging a man, Tunde Tayo, for the murder of Abdullahi Janiya Yahaya in Maitumbi area of Minna, Niger state in 2019. 
Presiding judge, Justice Mohammed Mohammed, handed down the death sentence on January 10, 2024 in a judgement delivered for over two hours.
Reviewing the case, Justice Mohammed Mohammed held that the circumstantial evidence against the accused by the prosecutor was strong, cogent and direct.
The convict, according to the Judge, was arraigned on two count charges of robbery and culpable homicide under sections 298 and 221 of the penal code. 
Tayo and his friends now at large were accused of cutting off the head the deceased and burying the body in a shallow grave inside an uncompleted building in Maitumbi area of Minna on 13th of September 2019.
According to the judge, the convict admitted in his statement to the police that he owns the uncompleted building, adding that, “Although he denied killing the deceased, circumstantial evidence established that he was last seen with the deceased and that he committed the crime.” 
Justice Mohammed said, “On the charge of robbery on section 298 of penal code, you are sentenced to life imprisonment. On the second count charge of culpable homicide under section 221 of the penal code law you Tunde Tayo is hereby convicted and sentenced to death by hanging until you die. May Almighty God have mercy on your soul.”

06 November 2024 :

A Nigerian court freed 119 people, including 30 minors, on November 5, 2024, after the authorities dropped charges against them arising from deadly protests in August against economic hardship.
The accused had faced charges including treason and inciting a military coup and had been arraigned in batches of 76 and 43 on November 1st.
One of the charges carried the death penalty.
President Bola Tinubu on November 4 ordered the release of all minors detained during anti-government protests in August and dropped the charges against them.
Arraignment of minors sparked public outrage and criticism of the government after they were paraded in court on November 1st.
“The case has been struck out and the 119 protesters have been released,” Deji Adeyanju, counsel to the protesters, told Reuters.
“Now we are asking for their rehabilitation and compensation by their various state governments.”
The country’s attorney general took over the case from the police and dropped the charges after bringing forward the matter due to be heard in January.
In August, thousands of Nigerians protested in the commercial capital Lagos, Abuja, and several other cities against Tinubu's painful economic reforms that have stoked inflation and led to the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.
Amnesty International said at least 22 people died during the demonstrations in clashes with security forces.