Three traders, including an India deportee, who had serially terrorised residents of Isolo, High School and Adegbola areas in Akure, the Ondo state capital are to die by hanging after being found guilty of robbery.
Justice William Olamide of the Ondo State High court in Akure convicted the three men after finding them guilty on a seven-count charge including conspiracy and robbery.
The culprits were nabbed by operatives of the defunct Special Anti Robbery Squad, SARS in 2017.
In June 2017, the three traders Chidiebere Obi, Obieze Sylvanus, an Indian deportee and Ikechukwu Chukwu were alleged to have terrorised residents of Isolo, High school and Adegbola axis of Akure the state capital.
The three-man gang armed with dangerous weapons at different times raided no fewer than 11 houses during which they disposed their victims of cash and other valuables.
Following repeated distressed calls by residents of the affected areas, operatives of the disbanded special anti-robbery squad swooped on the gang while sharing a booty in an uncompleted building after an operation.
After investigations that spanned about two years, the three men were dragged before justice William Olamide of an Ondo state high court in Akure in June 2020.
They were docked on a seven-count charge to include conspiracy and *robbery contrary to section 6b of the robbery and firearms and sections 1 subsection 2a of the robbery and firearms laws of the Federation.
The state prosecution led by a chief legal officer in the Ondo State Ministry of Justice, Mrs Bunmi Koyenikan called Eight witnesses including six victims, the investigating Police officer, Sergeant Iriemi Omage and a Legal Aid Officer who attested to the statement the defendants made upon their arrest.
She also tendered statements of the defendants and attestation, cutlass, knife, Iron bar, Plasma TV, Techno phone, Toshiba Laptop among others retrieved from the House of the gang leader, Chidiebere Obi.
Koyenikan urged the court to convict the defendants on the strength of the testimonies of their victims and evidences before the Court.
Their lawyer Arinze Obidinma who called the Three men to defend themselves also canvassed arguments to prove their innocence.
In his judgement, Justice William Olamide convicted the Three Men based on their confessional statements and eye witness accounts of the victims who identified their assailants.
He thereafter sentenced them to seven years imprisonment for conspiracy and death by hanging for robbery.
The convicts have been returned to Olokuta correctional facility while the stolen items have been handed over to owners with proof of ownership.
(OSRC)
