Court sentence three men to death by hanging for murder

Justice Fatimah Adejoke Sodamade of Osun State High Court sitting in Iwo has sentenced three men to death by hanging for murder.

The convicts Muideen Tunji, Yusuf Muslim, and Rabiu Fatai were arraigned on January 31, 2022, on a three-count charge of conspiracy, murder, and unlawful possession of human parts, contrary to Sections 324, 319(a), and 329A(1) of the Criminal Code, Cap 34, Volume 2, Laws of Osun State of Nigeria, 2002. They all pleaded not guilty to the charges.

During the trial, the prosecution counsel from the Ministry of Justice, Barrister Dele Akintayo, told the court that Muideen Tunji invited the deceased, Asiata Yekeen, to his residence in Ile-Ogbo under the pretext of paying her money he owed. Upon her arrival, she met Yusuf Muslim and Rabiu Fatai in the house.

The prosecution stated that the three men strangled the deceased shortly after she arrived, dismembered her body, and buried the remains in a shallow grave behind Tunji’s house after severing vital body parts.

The case was reported to the police and the Amotekun Corps in Ile-Ogbo by Mr. Suleiman Akorede and Yekini Suleiman when efforts to reach the deceased failed. Witnesses who saw the deceased enter Tunji’s house also alerted security operatives.

The court heard that Tunji fled upon learning that security operatives were searching for him and hid at the residence of Yusuf Muslim and Rabiu Fatai, allegedly taking some human body parts of the deceased along with him.

The defence counsel J.D. Olaniyan Esq., Adesina Olaniyan Esq., and Bayo Alade Esq. represented the first, second, and third defendants respectively, and argued that the prosecution’s evidence was hearsay and should be dismissed.

Barrister Akintayo called six witnesses and tendered 13 exhibits, including the defendants’ confessional statements.

In her judgment, Justice Sodamade held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and found the defendants guilty on all counts.

The convicts were sentenced to four years’ imprisonment for conspiracy to commit murder, death by hanging for murder, and five years’ imprisonment for unlawful possession of human parts.