Lecturer Sentenced to Death by Hanging for Armed Robbery in Ondo

|By Adejumo Adekunle

An Ondo State High Court has sentenced Shittu Isiaka, a lecturer at the College of Health Technology, Ijero-Ekiti, to death by hanging for armed robbery.

The ruling came after Justice O. M. Adejumo found Isiaka guilty on two counts: conspiracy and armed robbery. On a third count of allegedly endangering the life of the victim, the court acquitted and discharged him, ruling that the prosecution failed to prove the allegation beyond a reasonable doubt.

Isiaka was first arraigned on November 26, 2018, facing a three-count charge including conspiracy, armed robbery, and endangering life.

The prosecution alleged that in 2017, Isiaka, alongside other suspects still at large, robbed a commercial driver, Olatunji Olowoyeye, at gunpoint, taking his Nissan Cabstar truck (registration number XJ 214 KTU) along the Ibuji–Akure–Ilesha Motorway.

According to the police, the victim was brought into Ogbara Oke by highway patrol officers and wrote a statement implicating Isiaka.

During the trial, Isiaka denied all allegations, insisting he had no involvement in the robbery.

Justice Adejumo, in delivering the ruling, emphasized that while the prosecution proved the armed robbery and conspiracy charges, it failed to establish the offence of endangering life as required under Section 135(1) of the Evidence Act.

The judgment serves as a stark warning against violent crime and underscores the judiciary’s resolve to uphold the rule of law.