Justice Williams Olamide gave the judgement, ruling that the 35-year-old was guilty of two counts of robbery and one count of conspiracy.
A High Court in Akure, the Ondo State capital, has sentenced Ekundayo Temitope to death by hanging for robbing a woman of N35,000, a SaharaReporters correspondent is reporting.
Justice Williams Olamide gave the judgement, ruling that the 35-year-old was guilty of two counts of robbery and one count of conspiracy.
SaharaReporters learned that Mr. Temitope had earlier been tried at the Oke Eda Magistrate Court before his case was transferred to the State High Court under Justice Olamide.
Our correspondent reported that the police told the court during an earlier cross-examination at the State Magistrate Court that Mr. Temitope was arrested through intelligence gathering after his victim rushed to a police station in Akure to report the crime. Mr. Temitope was then apprehended by the Ondo State Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
The State prosecutors, Sola Adeyemi-Tuki and Jumoke Ogunjobi, told the court how the perpetrator was investigated by the police and was subsequently found guilty of the offense.
Toyin Asake, the defendant’s counsel from the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, argued that Mr. Temitope had been standing trial for a very long time, and being a first offender, should treated with mercy.
Nevertheless, Justice Olamide sentenced Mr. Temitope to death by hanging, noting that his case would serve as a deterrent to others.