Justice Raliatu Adebiyi of
the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja convicted and sentenced him along with one
Balogun after they were found guilty of murder.
Prince Adewale, son of late
Oba of Lagos, Oba Adeyinka Oyekan, was on Monday sentenced to death by hanging
for the murder of his boss, Alhaja Sikirat Ekun.
The case has been on for
seven years before the court.
The Lagos State government
had accused the convict of contracting the second convict, Balogun for N6,000
to murder the 62-year-old businesswoman cum politician.
They were said to have
strangled Ekun and threw her remains in a 1,000 feet well located in her
residence.
Delivering judgment,
Adebiyi stated that the prosecution had proven the charges of conspiracy to
commit murder and murder beyond reasonable doubt.
”The circumstantial
evidence was strong and cogent, the act of the defendants in killing the
deceased was intentional and premeditated.
“The court finds that the
prosecution has proven beyond reasonable doubt the offence of conspiracy and
murder and are accordingly found guilty of the two-count charge,” he said.
Adebiyi said Section 221 of
the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011 stipulated the punishment for the offence
of murder, saying that subject to the provisions of any other law, a person who
committed the offence of murder shall be sentenced to death.
“Same is the punishment for
conspiracy to commit murder as contained in Section 231 of the Criminal Law of
Lagos State 2011. The above cited provisions of the law does not give the court
any discretion whatsoever in sentencing the defendants.
“For this reason the first
and second defendants are hereby sentenced accordingly on each of count one and
two to death by hanging. May God the giver of life have mercy on your soul,” he
ruled.
The prosecution team, led
by Akin George, had told the court that the convicts committed the offences at
1:00am on October 17, 2012 at the home of the deceased located at No. 5,
Babatunde Lalega Street, Omole Phase One, Lagos.
He said the deceased was a
Restaurateur who knew Oyekan due to her friendship with his late mother and
that due to the affinity between the women, Ekun employed the prince as the
manager of her restaurant.
He stated that Balogun, the
second defendant, was a former domestic staff of Ekun who was employed by her to
take care of her elderly father, adding that his employment was however
terminated following a dispute with Ekun.
“The convicts conspired,
killed the deceased and threw her corpse in a well within the premises of her
home and took over her businesses and properties including her bus which was
sold for 170,000 Naira.
The prosecution said when
any inquiry was made by family and friends about her whereabouts, Oyekan
informed them that she had travelled to Abuja for the Ileya (Id el Kabir)
festival and that he passed this information by sending a text message from
Ekun’s mobile phone.
He explained that following
panic and worry from members of Ekun’s family and after an extensive search,
her corpse was found two months later in December 2012 by well diggers and fire
fighters, adding that the convicts had placed a generator, a gas cylinder and
other household items on the corpse to conceal it in the 1,000 feet well.
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