A 20-year-old student, Ganiyu Hassan and two other men, Wasiu Arepo, an aluminum products manufacturer and Oluwaseun Idowu, a commercia...
A 20-year-old student, Ganiyu Hassan and two other men, Wasiu Arepo, an aluminum products manufacturer and Oluwaseun Idowu, a commercial bus driver, have been sentenced to death by hanging after they were found guilty of armed robbery.
The sentenced was handed down on the three men by Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo of an Ikeja High Court, sitting in Lagos State, after the court found the convicts guilty on a four-count charge of armed robbery and murder contrary to Section 402 Subsection 2(a) of the Criminal Code Law of Lagos State, 2011, and Section 319 subsection 1(a) of Criminal Code Law of Lagos State, 2011.
According to the prosecution, the accused had, on February 5, 2011, stormed the home of one Abubakar Bakare and his wife, Adijatu, at Aleke village, Imota in the Ikorodu area of the state, at 2am, and demanded for the money Abubakar had withdrawn from bank a day before.
The prosecution added that during the robbery, Arepo brought out a gun and shot Abubakar in the chest, after which they ransacked the house and took away N15,000 and other valuables.
Abubakar reportedly died on his way to the hospital while the suspects were caught in a nearby community by the vigilante group in the area two hours later, after the wife of the victim reported the matter at Imota Police Station and was able to identify one of the convicts.
During the trial, the convicts denied involvement in the incident, claiming they were at home on the night but Justice Akapo, while delivering his judgment, said the prosecution had proved the case beyond doubt that the convicts committed the crime.
