A High Court sitting in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, has sentenced to death by hanging the five surviving bloody Offa banks’ armed robbery suspects.
The convicts are Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibikunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salahudeen Azeez and Niyi Ogundiran.
The convicts had on April 5th, 2018 launched bloody attacks on banks and police station in the ancient Offa city, killing scores of people including police officers in the wake of the gory incident.
The convicts had since then been standing trial as the state government prosecuted the case, charging them to court for illegal possession of firearms, armed robbery and culpable homicide.
Also, the court sentenced each of them to three years jail terms for being in possession of illegal firearms.
As the case progressed, the convicts pleaded various alibis contrary to their confessional statements in a desperate bid to cover up their involvement in the crime, the court said.
Delivering her about three hours verdict, presiding Justice
Salman said there was abundant evidence that the convicts were partners in crime, adding that their material contradictions watered down their alibis and made them worthless.
Justice Salman said that the prosecution proved the offences against the defendants beyond reasonable doubt, adding that: “The video clips in the court to show the culpability of the defendants made their alibis worthless, a desperate attempt to cover up and after thought.
“The law is clear that once a person is present at the scene of a crime such a person is culpable. Any person who fires AK47 at close range at a person should know that the consequence is death.
“The five defendants are hereby convicted for offences bordering on illegal possession of firearms, armed robbery and culpable homicide punishable by death.
“I order that the five of you are to be hanged until you are pronounced dead.