Crime
Court Sentences Killers Of Fasoranti’s Daughter To Death
The convicts Muhammed Shehu, Mazaje Lawal, Adamu Adamu, who were also accused of killing a hunter in the forest were found guilty of all the count charges brought against them.
An Ondo State High Court has sentenced three persons to death for killing the daughter of the leader of Afenifere, a pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Pa Reuben Fasoranti to death by hanging.
Mrs Olakunrin was the daughter of the Afenifere leader, Reuben Fasoranti.
The convicts Muhammed Shehu, Mazaje Lawal, Adamu Adamu, who were also accused of killing a hunter in the forest were found guilty of all the count charges brought against them.
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They were charged with four counts including felony to wit murder, and kidnapping.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that they were first arraigned in an Akure Magistrate’s Court, which ordered their remand in Owo Correctional Centre.
NAN reports that the convicts then had no representation in court but pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
The then Ondo State Attorney-General, Kola Olawoye, who represented the state, declared that the state government was ready to take over the case.
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He urged the court to rely on the statement deposed by an official of FSARs, Akeem Ogunjobi, who prayed that the suspects should be remanded at the Correctional Centre in Owo because the Akure Correctional facility was overstretched.
He also pleaded with the court to allow the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to conduct COVID-19 test on the defendants before moving them to the Correctional Centre.
According to him, the test was necessary because of the coronavirus pandemic ravaging the globe. He said the health status of the four accused persons must be ascertained in order not to infect other inmates at the facility.
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Magistrate Victoria Bob-Manuel, in her ruling, granted the prayers of the prosecuting counsel and remanded the accused at Owo Correctional facility. She also ordered that their samples must be tested before being remanded at the centre.
Mrs Bob-Manuel, however, disclosed that the court lacked the jurisdiction to try the defendants but adjourned the case for the advice of the Director of Public Prosecution.
