An Ondo State High Court has sentenced a lecturer at the College of Health Technology, Ijero-Ekiti, Ekiti State, to death by hanging after finding him guilty of armed robbery.
The defendant, Shittu Isiaka, was convicted on a two-count charge of conspiracy and armed robbery by the presiding judge, Justice O. M. Adejumo.
However, on the third count, the court acquitted and discharged the defendant of allegedly endangering the life or health of the victim, ruling that the prosecution failed to prove the allegation beyond reasonable doubt.
Isiaka was first arraigned before the court on 26 November 2018 on a three-count charge of conspiracy to commit armed robbery, armed robbery, and endangering life.
According to the prosecution, the defendant and other suspects still at large robbed a commercial driver, Olatunji Olowoyeye, in 2017. The attackers reportedly dispossessed the victim of his Nissan Cabstar truck with registration number XJ 214 KTU at gunpoint along Ibuji on the Akure–Ilesha motorway.
The prosecution told the court that highway patrol officers of the Nigeria Police brought the victim into Ogbara Oke, where he later made a statement implicating the defendant.
A police witness, Inspector Kehinde Omotosho, testified during the trial that the victim identified the defendant in his statement to the police.
During the proceedings, the defendant denied all the allegations, insisting that he had no involvement in the robbery.
In his judgement, Justice Adejumo held that the prosecution did not establish the offence of endangering life as required under Section 135(1) of the Evidence Act.
The court, however, found sufficient evidence to convict the defendant on the charges of conspiracy and armed robbery, leading to the death sentence by hanging.
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