Driver to die by hanging over lecturer’s murder

A driver, Kehinde Olumide, was on Thursday, sentenced to death by hanging by Justice Joseph Olubunmi Oyewole of a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja. The court found him guilty of murdering a lecturer.

The judgement came after 12 years of trial that followed the murder of Mr R.A. Adisa, a senior lecturer at the Federal College of Education in Okene, Kogi State.

The court after examining the submissions of the prosecution led by Lauqman Sanusi and the defence counsel, Mrs Femi Ajanaku, “found the defendant guilty as charged and convicted him accordingly.”

“The only statutory punishment for murder is the death penalty.

“Accordingly, the sentence of the court upon you, Kehinde Olumide, is that you be hanged by the neck until you be dead and may the Lord have mercy on your soul.”

Olumide, who was arraigned on a one count charge of murder, was alleged to have murdered one Mr R.A. Adisa, on November 29, 2000, in Alafon village on Lagos/Ibadan Expressway and dispossessed his victim of his new ash-colour Honda car.

The offence, according to the prosecution, was contrary to section 319(1) of the Criminal Code Cap 32, Vol. 2, Laws of Lagos State 1994.

The deceased, according to the prosecution, had sought the assistance of the defendant to help him drive the car to Okene since he could not drive.

After killing his victim, the accused person, who was a driver with the Institute of Management and Technology, Ketu, until November 14, 2000, later gave the Honda car to his friend who sold the car and gave him the proceeds to process a purported journey abroad.

While delivering judgment in the matter, Justice Oyewole held that sufficient evidence existed before the court to come to the inevitable conclusion and beyond any reasonable doubt that the defendant murdered the deceased, Mr Adisa, as alleged by the prosecution.

During the trial, the prosecution called five witnesses who testified against the defendant including the father of the defendant and whose testimonies, the trial judge noted, were “not subjected to cross-examination by the defence.”

The judge, therefore, held that the facts deductible from the evidence of the prosecution witnesses were that the deceased, a graduating student of the institute had travelled to Lagos from Okene to purchase the imported fairly used car and after the purchase, engaged the defendant “with whom the said Adisa was cordial, to drive the car to Okene.”

The judge stated that when the defendant eventually showed up at home with an unlicenced car, his father, knowing the financial situation of his son, ordered him to take the car off his premises.

Justice Oyewole held that there was no doubt the accused person had the opportunity to commit the offence for which he was charged.

Source: Nigerian Tribune