Thursday, October 29, 2026 - An Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure has sentenced a carpenter, Lasisi Nureni, and a driver, Akintan Adebayo, to death by hanging for armed robbery.
Justice William Olamide convicted the two men on a two-count
charge of conspiracy to commit armed robbery and armed robbery, contrary to
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.
The court sentenced each of the convicts to seven years’
imprisonment for conspiracy to commit armed robbery and to death by hanging for
armed robbery.
With both defendants pleading not guilty to the charges, the
prosecution’s case was based on the testimony of a fellow driver, Omojolowo
Boluwaji, and on police investigation that tracked one of the stolen mobile
phones to Osun State.
Boluwaji said the assailants demanded the keys to his newly
acquired vehicle, adding that when he refused to surrender them, they
overpowered him, beat his wife, and stole his vehicle, five mobile phones, a
laptop, jewellery, N900,000 belonging to his wife, and another N490,000.
Inspector Omotadowa Sunday, a police officer, told the court
that the police tracked one of the stolen phones to Imesi, Osun State, where
Nureni was arrested.
Nureni, who denied involvement in the robbery, told the
court that he was a carpenter and had never committed armed robbery, adding
that he did not know Adebayo before his arrest.
He claimed he was arrested after a disagreement with his
mother, denied any connection with Osun State, and said he was from Ado-Ekiti.
Adebayo, who also denied conspiring with anyone to commit
armed robbery and insisted that he did not know Nureni before their arrest,
maintained that his name was Adeoye Adebayo and claimed that he had been in
detention since 2018, denying any involvement in the robbery.
In his judgment, Justice Olamide held that the prosecution
had proved beyond reasonable doubt that both defendants knowingly participated
in a plan to commit armed robbery.
The judge consequently sentenced them to seven years’ imprisonment each for conspiracy to commit armed robbery and to death by hanging for armed robbery.
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