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Late Oba Adeyinka Oyekan’s son sentenced to death over the killing of late mother’s friend

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Adewale, son of Adeyinka Oyekan, a former oba, who died on March 1, 2003, was sentenced alongside Lateef Balogun, a former domestic servant.

The prince hired Balogun for N6,000 to murder Ekun, according to the prosecution.

The convicts, who have been in custody for seven years, were said to have murdered Ekun by strangling her and throwing her corpse in a 1,000-feet well in her home.

In a two-hour judgment, Raliatu Adebiyi, the presiding judge, held that the prosecution proved the charges of conspiracy to commit murder and murder beyond reasonable doubt.

She said: “The circumstantial evidence was strong and cogent; the act of the defendants in killing the deceased was intentional and premeditated.

“The court finds that the prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt the offences of conspiracy and murder, and the defendants are accordingly found guilty of the two-count charge.

“Section 221 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011, stipulates the punishment for the offence of murder as follows.

“Subject to the provisions of any other law, a person who commits the offence of murder shall be sentenced to death.

“Same is the punishment for conspiracy to commit murder as contained in Section 231 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

“The above cited provisions of the law does not give the court any discretion whatsoever in sentencing the defendants.

“For this reason, the first and second defendants are hereby sentenced on each of counts one and two, to death by hanging. May God, the giver of life, have mercy on your souls.”

According to the prosecution led by Akin George, the convicts committed the offences at 1am on October 17, 2012, at the home of the deceased located at 5, Babatunde Lalega street, Omole Phase One, Lagos.

The prosecution said that the deceased knew Oyekan due to her friendship with his late mother.

“To render assistance to the prince, Mrs Ekun employed him as the manager of her restaurant,” George said.

“Balogun, the second defendant, was a former domestic staff of Ekun, who was employed by her to take care of her elderly father.”

He submitted that Balogun’s employment was, however, terminated following a dispute with Ekun.

“The convicts conspired, killed the deceased and threw her corpse in a well within the premises of her home, and took over her businesses and property including a bus which was sold for N170,000,” he said.

“When any inquiry was made by family and friends about her whereabouts, Mr Oyekan informed them that she travelled to Abuja for the Ileya (Eid-el Kabir) festival. He passed this information by sending a text message from Mrs Ekun’s mobile phone.

“Following worry from members of Mrs Ekun’s family, and after an extensive search, her corpse was found two months later, in December 2012, by well diggers and firefighters.

“The convicts had placed a generator, a gas cylinder and other household items on the corpse to conceal it in the 1,000 feet well.”

The trial at the high court began on April 14, 2015.

Five witnesses, including two police officers, a nephew of the deceased, Iyiola Olaniyi; and the only child of the deceased, Folashade Amurun, testified for the prosecution.

Oyekan and Balogun testified for the defence.

While testifying, the convicts both denied knowing each other, saying that they met for the first time at a police station. They also denied committing the offences.

Oyekan said that he met Ekun, who was a friend of his mother at a PDP rally in 2011, after he returned from the US where he obtained a degree in architecture.

He said he met the deceased thereafter at her home where she offered to assist him by employing him to manage her restaurant.

Earlier, before the sentence was passed, defence counsel, O. C. Onwumerie, did not plead for mercy on behalf of his clients.

“I will be leaving sentencing to the hands of the court,” he said.

Meanwhile, the 50-year-old Prince, who committed the offence at age 45, was docked alongside his accomplice, Lateef Balogun, 20, for allegedly stranguling the 62-year-old woman in her bedroom.

Prince Oyekan had earlier stated in his police statement that he connived with Balogun, who had initially planned the murder, in order to take over her businesses and sell off her properties.

According to Oyekan statement, “I met Alhaja (the deceased) at a PDP rally at Ikeja after returning from the United States of America in 2003 following the death of my father. I was born in December 12, 1968 and my father is the late Oba of Lagos, Oba-Adeyinka Oyekan of Lagos. My mother is one Subulade Oyekan but she died in 2001 in USA.

“Alhaja invited me to her house at Omole and after we talked, she accepted to help me by employing me to work in her restaurant. She wasn’t really paying me any money as salary since I ate and was sheltered in her house.

“Balogun had also lived and worked for Alhaja but left after they both had a misunderstanding. It was during one of their confrontations that Balogun threatened to deal with Alhaja.

“I and Balogun began planning on how to kill her and seize her properties. I have been having dialogue with Balogun on how to kill Alhaja before October 17 but we eventually executed the plan on that day before Ileya: that is Edil-kabir celebration.

“On that day, I sneaked in Balogun into the building and hide him inside the toilet so that we can kill her around 1am. Alhaja’s Dad was the only person at home but he wasn’t feeling too well. So I turned on the generator in order to increase the noise and signalled Balogun to go kill Alhaja in her room.

“Balogun strangled her and both of us carried her dead body and dumped it inside a well in the compound so that no one would find her. We also used the kitchen utensils and some heavy loads to suppress the body inside a 1,000 feet well in order to prevent it from floating,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, an Estate manager, Isibor Paul, who testified in evidence before Justice Raliat Adebiyi, said that he met Oyekan at the late Ekun’s house where he was working as an employee in her restaurant.

Paul told the court that he was also an employee of Ekun, just like Oyekan, but in the full capacity of a manager where he executed contracts awarded to his boss by the PDP party, at the time.

He said that he had travelled to PortHarcourt in Rivers State for a wedding on the day his boss was murdered but was later briefed on the outcome of the police investigations in unraveling the killer of his boss.

The witness testified that he returned to Lagos only to be informed by the prince that his boss had travelled as a result of an unknown sickness.

“I was shocked when I heard that Madame had travelled without informing me, at least she wasn’t sick before I travelled. But what was more strange was the fact that I couldn’t find any of her cars or kitchen utensils when I arrived her apartment.

“I had thought that she was angry with me for not staying back in Lagos to celebrate the Muslim festival with her as it was her habit of killing a ram and celebrating with her staff members.

He said, “On October 26 Prince Oyekan called my number and asked why I didn’t come to see Alhaja and that she was sick.

“I went to her compound, on getting there I didn’t see her Sienna and Rav 4, when I asked about the vehicles, Prince said Alhaja asked some people to come and pick them.

“All the while when I was asking questions, someone was texting me with Alhaja’s number.

He added that for the 14 years he had worked with the deceased, she never sent him any SMS messages.

The witness informed the court further that when he received the 17th text, also not having seen or heard from his boss, he asked the suspect about her cooking utensils which were missing from her house.

He said he could not understand his explanations hence he traced the deceased family house in Fadeyi to find out about her.

He said the family queried him about his boss’ whereabouts and subsequently reported to the police leading to the arrest and investigation of Oyekan and other suspected persons; himself, Michael Scott, Funke another staff of the deceased whom the witness claimed police found Alhaja’s catering utensils with and two men who said they bought the vehicles from Prince Oyekan.

According to him, he said it was at this point that at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti that the defendants were separated from other suspects.

During cross-examination, the defendant’s counsel, Mr. O. C Onwumere argued that the witness could have been lying to the court stressing that he had not told the police during investigation that one Engineer Tunde had also come to the home of the deceased for the Sallah celebration.

He also argued that the witness could not have known the findings of the police from his detention but was relating to the court what could be described as hearsay or fables.

The witness replied, “When Engineer Tunde called me to know whether we had seen her, I told him, no and that I have not heard anything from Alhaja, I did not tell police about Engineer Tunde’s visit to the house.”

Source: Global Excellence

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Igbos Responsible For Killings, Kidnappings In South-East – Joe Igbokwe

“From Anambra to Enugu State, from Enugu to Ebonyi State, from Ebonyi to Abia State and from Abia to Imo State it is no longer Fulani Herdsmen.
“It’s Igbo kidnapping Igbo, it is Igbo killing Igbo, it is Igbo destroying Igboland. So that you know”.

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A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Joe Igbokwe has blamed the deteriorating security situation in the South-East on activities of some citizens of the region.

In a controversial post on his official Facebook page on Monday, Igbokwe exonerated Fulani herdsmen that were hitherto accused of causing the mayhem in the South-Eastern part of the nation.

According to Igbokwe, Igbos are the ones “destroying” the five states in the geo-political zone.

He wrote, “From Anambra to Enugu State, from Enugu to Ebonyi State, from Ebonyi to Abia State and from Abia to Imo State it is no longer Fulani Herdsmen.

“It’s Igbo kidnapping Igbo, it is Igbo killing Igbo, it is Igbo destroying Igboland. So that you know”.

JomogNews reports that the APC chieftain has been vocal against the wanton killings allegedly being carried out by members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.

Some prominent personalities were recently kidnapped and killed by the daredevil criminal elements.

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UCH Power Crisis Embarrassment To Nigerian Government – Minister

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The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, IBEDC, has agreed to restore electricity supply at the University College Hospital, UCH, Ibadan.

The announcement was made on Monday during a visit of the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu to the hospital.

Recall that UCH has been having power crisis in the last one year.

The power supply to the hospital was cut of by IBEDC three times in 2024.

The electricity distribution company has now agreed to restore the power supply within 48 hours.

This was part of the resolutions of the tripartite meeting between Adelabu, the Chief Medical Director of UCH, Professor Jesse Otegbayo, and the management team of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company, IBEDC, led its Managing Director, Francis Agoha.

Our correspondent reports that while the meeting was ongoing, some medical students were protesting close to the venue of the meeting.

Adelabu, who spoke after the meeting, said that all the issues relating to the lingering power crisis had been resolved.

He described the lingering power crisis as not only an embarrassment to the management of the hospital but the federal government.

“Power crisis in the UCH has gone to embarrassing level. It is quite embarrassing to have the hospital in total darkness for so long. I have intervened in the matter several times but the problem still lingers.

“Other Teaching Hospitals, including the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, (LUTH), University of Calabar, Maidiguri and Abuja that had similar issue were able to surmount it through the Federal government intervention of Solar mini grid.

“Similar thing will be done at the University of Ibadan and the College of Medicine. The Federal government will install 50 mgw solar mini grid which will be completed within the first and second quarter of the year.

“Also, while this is going on, the IBEDC has agreed to restore electricity to some sections of the Hospital within 48 hours while N283m will be settled on an instalment basis.

“The management of the UCH has agreed on immediate settlement of the debt on instalment payment which is going to be between 8-12 months in addition to the current bill,” he stated.

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Polaris Bank, Partners Take Presentation Of School Essentials To Gbaja Girls Secondary Schools, Lagos

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Polaris Bank and one of its strategic CSR partners, Evolve Trust Charity on Wednesday stormed Gbaja Girls (Junior and Senior) High School, Surulere, Lagos in continuation of its presentation of school essentials programme to selected public school students in the country.

The partnership which birthed in 2021 and primarily focused on empowering the girl-child and their male counterparts has reached over 15,000 students across 35 public schools in nine states including Lagos, Kano, Kogi, Imo and FCT, Abuja. Amongst other things, the initiative includes empowering young learners with brain training techniques and emotional intelligence education alongside making and distributing user-sized school essentials (bags, uniforms, sandals, books, and pens). The initiative also captures training of teachers in the respective schools, all sponsored by the Bank.

Speaking at the presentation on Wednesday, the Bank’s Executive Director, Corporate and Investment Banking, Mrs. Abimbola Ozomah emphasized that the Bank being a signatory to United Nations’ (UN) Principles for Responsible Banking aligns its practices and strategies with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement thus igniting its sustained interests in the training of the girl-child.

According to data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), there are about 10.5 million out of school children in Nigeria with six million of them being girls.

“This event is not just about distributing educational materials but empowering girls for bigger roles because educated girls grow into informed women. At Polaris Bank, we are committed to bridging the educational gap, empowering girls and building sustainability aligning with global framework,” she said.

The Executive Director further charged the students to embrace the opportunities inherent in education while stating that the Bank will stop at nothing to support them.

“Education is most powerful tool at your disposal and you have to utilize it to the maximum. Polaris Bank will not relent in supporting this laudable mission to empower girls who will drive the needed change to better our country and world. This intervention is in line with the Bank’s ongoing sustainability efforts aimed at reducing out-of-school children population and increasing access to quality education, especially for the girl-child and we urge you all to take full advantage,” Ozoma noted.

Also speaking, Programme Manager at Evolve Charity Trust, Ejeh Godwin thanked Polaris Bank for keying into the Trust’s mission of supporting the girl-child nationwide. Godwin noted that while the initiative commenced in 2020, Polaris Bank partnered in 2021 and the Bank has never for once backed out since then.

“I want to specially appreciate Polaris Bank for their tremendous support since 2021 that the partnership started. We couldn’t have done this alone nor come this far without their support. We’ve expanded our reach and hope to even bring more schools in other states on board this year, all thanks to Polaris Bank,” Ejeh said.

The Principal, Gbaja Girls Junior High School, Mrs Dabiri Nwabuoku Adetoun Iyabo in her remarks also appreciated Polaris Bank for including the school in the intervention programme.

“I want to specially thank Polaris Bank on behalf of staff and students for finding us worthy of benefitting from this laudable programme. You can feel the energy in the hall that the students are happy and so are the staff. This has boosted our morale, and we are incredibly happy about it,” the Principal enthused.

One of the beneficiaries and Assistant Senior Girl of the school, Bankole Oreofeoluwa Emmanuella also thanked the Bank for symbolic gesture while promising to put the items into judicious use.

“My friends and I are happy about this gesture from Polaris Bank, and we can’t thank the bank enough. These items will further ease our learning, and we promise to not only put them to judicious use, but imbibe good maintenance culture,” Bankole said.

Highlight of the event was the presentation of the items to students by officials of Polaris Bank and Evolve Charity Trust.

 

Photo caption:
PHOTO CAPTION
L-R: Divisional Head, SURULERE Business, Dr. Bimbo Akorede; Principal Gbaja Junior Girls School, Mrs.Tawakalitu Dahiru; ED, Corporate & Investment Banking, Polaris Bank, Mrs. Abimbola Ozomah; ED PaceGate Limited, Raj Totlani, Group Head, Customer Experience & Value Mngt; Bukola Oluyadi & GM, Evolve Charity Trust, Mr. Godwin Ejeh when Polaris Bank & Evolve Charity Donated over 200 Schools essentials to both Gbaja Junior and Senior Secondary Schools in SURULERE last week in Lagos

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