Man to Die for Stealing N1,750
From Tobi Soniyi in Abuja, 07.12.2010
For dispossessing a woman of her N1,750 at gun point, Mr. Olayinka Afolalu, must die by hanging, the Supreme Court has ruled. The apex court put the final nail in the coffin of the convict while upholding the conviction and sentence of Afolalu who had wanted his conviction by an Ekiti High Court and the appelate court overturned.

The Supreme Court's record shows that Afolalu and three others still at large, had on 27 April 2002, while armed with guns, carried out a robbery operation along Igede Road, Ilawe Ekiti in Ekiti State. They robbed one Mercy Ogunshakin of the sum of N1,750 and raped her daughter, Ifedayo Ogunshakin.

He was immediately arrested while other members of the gang escaped. He was charged with two counts of armed robbery.
Count one reads, "Robbing one Idowu Fanikun (F) of the sum of N225.00 (Two Hundred and Twenty Five Naira) while armed with offensive weapons, to wit guns, thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(2)(a) of the Robbery and Firearms Special Provisions Act CAP 390 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990 as amended by the Tribunals Certain Consequential Amendments Decree No. 62 of 1999."

Count two reads, "Robbing one Mercy Ogunshakin (F) of the sum of N1,750.00 (One Thousand, Seven Hundred and Fifty Naira) while armed with offensive weapons, to wit guns, thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(2)(a) of the Robbery and Firearms Special Provisions Act CAP 390 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990 as amended by Tribunals Certain Consequential Amendments Decree No.62 of 1999."

At the trial, Afolalu pleaded not guilty to the two charges. He denied participating in the robbery and set up a defence of alibi by claiming that at the time the robbery was committed, he was watching video film with his friends in the house of one of such friends.

At the conclusion of trial, the trial judge found him not guilty of the first count charge and discharged and acquitted him on that charge.

However, he was found guilty on the second count. The court rejected his alibi and held that the prosecution had proved his case beyond reasonable .

The court found that Afolalu was identified as one of the armed robbers who participated in the robbery.

He was consequently convicted and sentenced to death.

His appeal to the Court of Appeal was dismissed. He consequently appealed to the Supreme Court. At the apex court, he raised one issue to wit, "Whether the accused was proved beyond reasonable doubt by the evidence adduced by the prosecution as the actual person that committed the offence of armed robbery at the house of the complainant."

He argued that both the trial judge and the Court of Appeal were wrong to have convicted him because they failed to observe some cardinal principles of law.

He said that he should have been presumed innocent and that the two courts failed to examine his alibi claim.

The state, as respondent, however asked the court to dismiss the appeal. It said the appellant's defence of alibi had been successfully destroyed by the evidence of the prosecution placing him (appellant) at the scene of the robbery at the time the appellant claimed he was elsewhere.

The state further argued that the robbery took several hours during which the suspects had sex with the daughter of the complainant and that the time spent robbing the family was long enough to afford the daughter who testified as the Prosecution Witness 1 sufficient opportunity to be in a position to identify the appellant.

In his judgment, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, who delivered the judgment of the court with which four other justices of the court agreed, dismissed the appeal and upheld Afolalu's conviction and sentence.

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=178062

If this poor man is found guilty for this offence and gets the capital punishment sentence then the thieves in power should be sentenced to hell directly. One may not even be sure is not a victim of police arresting error and refusal to close `case' at the police station level. I weep for naija

Injustice at the highest height, what a country we live in.

If he is to die for that amount alone, what about the stealing bastards what do they get?

Is this a joke?
The man deserves some punishments but this barbaric judgement is too much for christ's sake!

aduboy:

If this poor man is found guilty for this offence and gets the capital punishment sentence then the thieves in power should be sentenced to hell directly. One may not even be sure is not a victim of police arresting error and refusal to close `case' at the police station level. I weep for naija

I think it's capital punishment for armed robbery, and not the same for pen robbery, which only attracts a prison term. Plus most of the pen robbers can buy their way out and police don't arrest pen robbers (no evidence, even though all the money under the person's care disappears), armed-robbers(well armed).

poor bastard. He dosent deserve to die for the robbery but I say shoot both legs for the r.ape.