An Ekiti State High Court in the Ado Ekiti Division has sentenced Benjamin Joseph (32) and Stephen Orban (25) to death by hanging for robbing two individuals of cash and valuable items.
The convicts were arraigned on December 30, 2022, facing four counts of conspiracy and armed robbery.
According to the charge, on August 16, 2022, along Iluomoba Road, Aisegba Ekiti, the defendants conspired to commit armed robbery. During the robbery, they were armed with locally made guns, knives, and cutlasses, and robbed Daramola Christiana and Ajayi Alaba of items including phones, a power bank, creams, drugs, ATM cards, and N105,000 in cash.
The offences violated Sections 6(b) and 1(2)(a) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Cap. RII, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
One of the victims, a trader, testified that four armed men attacked them at a barricade on the Omuo-Ado Ekiti Road, seizing their phones, power bank, valuables, and N105,000 in cash before fleeing into the bush. She was rescued by a passerby, while the driver returned to Omuo to report the incident to the police.
The prosecutor, Ibironke Odetola, presented six witnesses and submitted evidence including charms, phones, camouflage underwear, a hammer, three hoods, fake dollar notes, and cutlasses. The defendants, represented by lawyer Adeyinka Opaleke, did not call any witnesses in their defense.
In the judgment on Thursday, Justice Blessing Ajileye declared that the prosecution had proven beyond reasonable doubt that an armed robbery occurred on August 16, 2022. The judge found the two men guilty and sentenced them to death by hanging.
“Consequently, the sentence of this court upon Benjamin Joseph and Stephen Orban is that they are hanged by the neck until they are dead. May God have mercy on your souls,” pronounced Justice Ajileye.
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