Ex-Convict, Three Others Sentenced to Death by Hanging for Kidnapping, Murder in Ekiti

An Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti has sentenced four men to death by hanging for the kidnapping and murder of businessman, Chief Emmanuel Ajayi.

The convicts, Jimoh Dele (57), Ige Adu (56), Ogunremi Bunmi (53), an ex-convict, and Ayeni Blessing (32), were arraigned on September 1, 2022, on charges of conspiracy, kidnapping, murder and illegal possession of firearms.

According to the prosecution, the four conspired on May 5, 2022, to kidnap Chief Ajayi from his residence in Ado Ekiti before later murdering him. They were also accused of illegally possessing four locally made cut-to-size single-barrel guns and 13 live cartridges.

Testifying before the court, Police Sergeant Oladele Ayodeji of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Ekiti State Command, said officers received a distress report that Chief Ajayi had been abducted by armed men from his home.

He told the court that shortly afterwards, another report indicated the victim had fallen from the boot of the kidnappers' vehicle and was found severely injured beside the road near the Immigration Office in Ado Ekiti. He was rushed to a nearby hospital before being transferred to ABUAD Multisystem Hospital, where he later died from the injuries he sustained.

The officer further testified that one Akeem Banjo Adebayo, who later escaped, was arrested during a robbery operation in Ado Ekiti. During interrogation, he allegedly confessed to being a kidnapper and implicated Jimoh Dele and Ogunremi Bunmi as members of the gang.

Police subsequently arrested the remaining defendants at different locations. A search of Jimoh Dele's residence reportedly led to the recovery of four locally made guns, 13 live cartridges and hair attachments concealed inside a sack.

The prosecution, led by Kunle-Shina Adeyemo, called two witnesses and tendered several exhibits, including the defendants' confessional statements, a medical report from ABUAD Multisystem Hospital, a video disc and the recovered firearms.

The defendants testified in their own defence through their counsel but called no witnesses.

In his judgment, Justice Olalekan Olatawura held that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

The judge described the first three defendants as serial kidnappers, armed robbers and housebreakers based on their confessional statements, adding that Ogunremi Bunmi was an ex-convict.

He sentenced all four to 21 years' imprisonment each for conspiracy. Jimoh Dele was also sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment and fined ₦20,000 for illegal possession of firearms, while the other defendants were discharged and acquitted on that count.

On the charges of kidnapping and murder, Justice Olatawura sentenced all four convicts to death by hanging, ordering that the sentences run concurrently. He concluded by pronouncing that they should "be hanged by the neck until they are dead."