MICHAEL AKINOLA
A 32-year-old man, Toba Adeyemi, has been sentenced to death by hanging for the murder of a rival youth leader, Michael Alademomi, during a violent supremacy battle in Ondo State.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that it was the judgment of the Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure in the state capital, which found him guilty and sentenced him accordingly.
The now convict, Adeyemi, was arraigned on a two-count charge of conspiracy and murder under the Criminal Law of the State over the incident which happened in May 2021.
While delivering judgment, Justice Yemi Fasanmi held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and consequently convicted the defendant on both counts.
The Court sentenced Adeyemi to 14 years imprisonment for conspiracy and ordered that he be hanged for the murder of the deceased.
“The prosecution has successfully discharged the burden of proof placed upon it by law. The evidence before the court clearly established that the defendant committed the offence of murder punishable by death.”
The prosecution counsel, D.G. Kayode, had earlier told the court that the convict and some accomplices still at large carried out the attack on May 1, 2021, at Fadeyi Street in the Oshinle area of Akure.
According to the prosecution, Adeyemi allegedly led a gang to Alademomi’s residence around 5 p.m., where the deceased was beaten and stabbed in the neck.
During the trial, the prosecution called four witnesses and tendered the defendant’s extra-judicial statement as evidence.
One of the witnesses testified that Adeyemi arrived at the scene with about eight men on motorcycles and allegedly identified the victim before the assault commenced.
The witness narrated that the deceased ran into his residence while screaming for help and bleeding heavily from the neck after being stabbed.
According to the testimony, the attackers fled immediately after the assault, while the victim was rushed to hospital where he later died from excessive blood loss.
The witness further told the court that medical examination revealed a deep cut on the deceased’s neck.
Although Adeyemi denied involvement in the crime, his counsel, Fortune Falade, argued that there was no direct evidence linking his client to the fatal stabbing.
However, Justice Fasanmi ruled that both oral and documentary evidence before the court showed that the convict deliberately mobilised armed supporters to intimidate and attack the deceased following an earlier disagreement.
The judge added that the injuries sustained during the assault directly led to Alademomi’s death, noting that the testimonies of prosecution witnesses were consistent and corroborated one another.
The presiding judge, Adeyemi, thereafter sentenced him to death by hanging in accordance with the law of the State.