Driver, carpenter to die by hanging for armed robbery in Ondo
An Ondo State High Court in Akure has sentenced two men, Lasisi Nureni, a carpenter, and Akintan Adebayo, a driver, to death by hanging for armed robbery.
Justice William Olamide delivered the verdict after finding both defendants guilty on charges of conspiracy to commit armed robbery and armed robbery, in violation of Sections 6(b) and 1(2)(a) and (b) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Cap. R11, Vol. 14, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. Each man received a seven-year prison sentence for conspiracy, in addition to the death penalty for the armed robbery charge.
The case against Nureni and Adebayo was largely supported by testimony from a fellow driver, Omojolowo Boluwaji, and findings from a police investigation that traced one of the stolen mobile phones to Osun State. Boluwaji reported that the assailants demanded the keys to his newly acquired vehicle. When he refused to comply, they physically attacked him, assaulted his wife, and made off with his vehicle, five mobile phones, a laptop, jewellery, and a total of N1.39 million.
Inspector Omotadowa Sunday, a police officer who testified in the case, said investigators tracked one of the stolen devices to Imesi in Osun State, leading to Nureni’s arrest.
During the proceedings, Nureni denied any involvement in the robbery, asserting his identity as a carpenter and claiming he did not know Adebayo before their apprehension. He stated that his arrest followed a personal dispute with his mother and denied any ties to Osun State, claiming to be from Ado-Ekiti.
Adebayo, who also refuted the charges and claimed he had been wrongly identified, insisted that he was known as Adeoye Adebayo and stated that he had been in detention since 2018.
In his ruling, Justice Olamide concluded that the prosecution had successfully demonstrated, beyond a reasonable doubt, that both defendants were complicit in the plan to commit armed robbery. Consequently, he sentenced them to death by hanging for the robbery, alongside the seven-year sentences for conspiracy.
