UNDERGRADUATE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING BROTHER

A 33-year-old undergraduate, Allen Abiodun, was, yesterday, sentenced to death by a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja for killing his younger brother, Wale, with a broken bottle.

The court presided over by Justice Raliatu Adebiyi held that the prosecution proved the ingredients of murder against the defendant beyond reasonable doubt as required by law.

Justice Adebiyi, while pronouncing the sentence, recounted that the convict, who was 27 years old at the time of committing the murder, had in his confessional statement stated that he was awakened from sleep and saw his younger brother, Wale Allen, standing before him with a bottle.

The defendant in the statement said he quickly grabbed another bottle and stabbed his brother, who died instantly. To cover up the act, he dragged the corpse to a nearby bush and covered it with leaves so that nobody would find it.

The judge also pointed out that the convict in his confessional statement, which he later attempted to deny, alleged that the deceased had threatened to kill him two years ago but he had told the deceased that he (the deceased) would die before him.

During the trial, the convict denied having blood relationship with his mother and the deceased, claiming strangely that his mother was a Chinese. Despite his strange claim, Justice Adebiyi insisted that from the evidence before her, he was guilty of murder as alleged by the state.

While delivering her judgment, the judge said; “The defendant is hereby found guilty and convicted of the murder of his brother, Allen Wale.

“You, Allen Abiodun, is hereby sentenced to death. May God, the Giver of life, have mercy on you.”

One of the witnesses who testified during the trial and a landlord to the convict, Sunday Abogunrin, in his testimony, said:

“I know the defendant because I live close to their  residence. I’ve known the defendant since his childhood and his entire family.

“On 20th February 20, 2013, at about 1-2a.m, I heard dogs barking. initially, people around were afraid to come out to clarify what was irritating the dogs for fear of robbers but later on they all came out, including me.

”I later went out to investigate the cause of the noise. But I noticed someone dragging something into the nearby bush. I initially wanted to raise an alarm but instead, I put my torch on and the person ran off towards the Defendant’s house.

“I immediately followed to see who it was only to meet the Defendant washing his hands, covered in blood, near the well. I quickly alerted the Baale of the community, who then ordered the youths to apprehend him. PW2 further said that convict also broke his sister’s hand and smacked his other brother’s head while attempting to escape when the community youths came to apprehend him.

“He was finally apprehended by the help of some Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) members who intervened and they took him to the Baale’s palace,” he said.