Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Lagos State Special
The convicts, Duba Furejo, alias General Cuba; Reuben Anthony and Yerin Fresh, were found guilty of the seven counts bordering on conspiracy, murder, attempted murder, armed robbery and kidnapping brought against them by the state government.
The convicts had on July 16, 2016, kidnapped the monarch at his palace.
Delivering her judgment, Justice Taiwo held that the convicts were guilty of the charges preferred against them.
She said, “I believe the defendants are guilty of the offences of conspiracy, murder, attempted murder, armed robbery and kidnapping brought against them by the prosecution and I have no doubt in my mind that the defendants were involved in the crime.
“I also have no doubt that the defendants knew that their actions were to cause injuries by gunshot as proved by the prosecution. The prosecutor has proved his case beyond reasonable doubt and I find the three defendants guilty as charged.”
The defence counsel, G. O. Eguaroje , in his allocutus , urged the court to temper justice with mercy, adding that the convicts were first-time offenders.
Opposing the allocutus , the prosecutor and Solicitor General, Lagos State, Titilayo Shitta-Bey, urged the court to impose the maximum sentence commensurate with the offences committed by the convicts.
She said, “A heinous crime of kidnapping does not only terrorise the victim, but terrorises the society and nobody is safe.
Opposing the allocutus , the prosecutor and Solicitor General, Lagos State, Titilayo Shitta-Bey, urged the court to impose the maximum sentence commensurate with the offences committed by the convicts.
She said, “A heinous crime of kidnapping does not only terrorise the victim, but terrorises the society and nobody is safe.
“A clear statement should be made that Lagos State has zero tolerance for kidnappers, murderers and robbers, and that in Lagos, you will be prosecuted and given the maximum sentence if found guilty.
“Lagos is not a lawless society and a clear message needs to be sent to people, who think they can get away with such crimes. Families of victims are made to look for ransom just to save their loved ones’ lives and this must be stopped.”
Sentencing the convicts, Justice Taiwo noted that kidnapping had become prevalent in the society and had to be stopped.
She said, “For the offence of conspiracy, the convicts are hereby sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment each; for causing the death of Sunday Okanlawon and Joseph Okeke, the monarch’s guards, I sentence each of the defendants to death; for the attempted murder of Olori Abosede Goriola, the convicts are sentenced to life imprisonment each.
“Each of the convicts is sentenced to 10 years for conspiracy to commit kidnap ; 10 years each for conspiracy to commit armed robbery; life imprisonment each for armed robbery; and 21 years for kidnapping. This is the judgment of the court.”
Reacting to the judgment, Shitta-Bey noted that it would send a warning to persons, who might want to go into kidnapping, that such offences were not acceptable in the state.
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