Lagos High Court Sentences Man To Death By Hanging

After 12 years of adjudication, Justice Joseph Oyewole of a Lagos High Court yesterday sentenced a driver, Kehinde Olumide, to death by hanging for the murder of a lecturer.

The convict was found guilty for the murder of R. A. Adisa, a senior lecturer at the Federal College of Education, Okene, Kogi State.

The convict was a driver with the Institute of Management and Technology, Ketu, Lagos, until November 14, 2000, when he committed the murder.
Justice Oyewole in his judgement held that; “I found the defendant guilty as charged and convicted him accordingly.
“The only statutory punishment for murder is the death penalty. The sentence of the court upon you Kehinde Olumide, is that you be hanged by the neck until you be dead and may the Lord have mercy on your soul.
“I hold that there is sufficient evidence before the court to unequivocally ground the inference that the defendant murdered the deceased, Mr. R.A. Adisa,” Justice Oyewole said.

The court further held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and that sufficient evidence exists before the court to come to the unavoidable conclusion that the defendant murdered the deceased.

Olumide was alleged to have murdered Adisa on November 29, 2000 in Alafon village along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and dispossessed the victim of his new Honda car.
The offence, according to the prosecution, was contrary to section 319 (1) of the Criminal Code Cap 32, Vol. 2, Laws of Lagos State, 1994.
According to the prosecution, the deceased had solicited for the assistance of the defendant to help him drive the car to Okene since he could not drive.

After killing his victim, the accused person transferred the Honda car to his friend who sold the car and gave him the proceeds to process a purported journey abroad.
During the trial, the prosecution called five witnesses including the father of the defendant, whose testimonies, the trial judge noted were “not subjected to cross-examination by the defence.”

The judge, therefore, held that the deceased, a graduating student of the institute had travelled to Lagos from Okene to purchase the imported Tokunbo (fairly used) car and after the purchase, engaged the defendant to drive the car to Okene.
Justice Oyewole noted that when the defendant eventually showed up at home with an unlicensed car, his father, knowing his financial situation, ordered him to take the car off his premises.