A 33-year-old student, Allen Abiodun, of the University of Abuja was Monday sentenced to death by an Ikeja High Court, Lagos for killing his younger brother, one Allen Wale with a broken bottle.
Justice Raliat Adebiyi found Abiodun guilty and convicted him of the offence of murder contrary to Section 221 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011 after six years of trial.
Abiodun was arraigned February 20, 2013 for killing his brother, Wale at Imude Village, Oto-Awori, Lagos.
The convict confessed to killing his brother Wale.
Following his confessional statement and the evidence of other prosecution witnesses, Justice Raliatu Adebiyi sentenced Abiodun to death as charged.
Justice Adebiyi said that the prosecution had proven its case of murder beyond reasonable doubt against the defendant.
“The defendant is hereby found guilty and convicted of the murder of his brother, Allen Wale.
“You, Allen Abiodun is hereby sentenced to death by hanging. May God, the giver of life, have mercy on you”, she said.
During trial, the State Prosecution, O. R Ahmed-Muil, called four witnesses to testify in the matter.
Ahmed-Muil also told the court that the convict attacked his younger brother with a broken bottle, stabbed him severally at the right side of his neck, dragged his body to a bush and covered it with leaves.
One of the witnesses, Sunday Abogunrin (PW2), the landlord of the convict, had testified that Abiodun was a troublesome fellow who fought his siblings at every slight provocation.
Abogunrin, a building contractor, told the court that he caught the convict dragging the deceased body into a bush after he had killed him.
According to the PW2, “I know the defendant because I live close to their residence. I’ve known the defendant since his childhood and his entire family.
“On 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.
Abogunrin had further told the court 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 took him to the Baale’s palace,” he said.
Also Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Uthman Lamidi, the Investigating Police Officer from llemba Hausa Police Station had stated that he was on duty when the report about the incident was lodged at his station.
Lamidi said that himself and his team immediately went to the Oba’s Palace, arrested the defendant and went with him to the crime scene.
The IPO stated that at the scene, he saw the deceased’s body and upon interrogating the defendant, he admitted killing his younger brother with a broken bottle and was about to bury the corpse when he was intercepted.
“I handcuffed the defendant and took him away. The Defendant followed him willingly and confessed killing his younger brother. His confession was read over to him and he signed it while I countersigned. In the course of investigation, we also discovered that the defendant had threatened to kill his late brother several times before actually doing it that day,” he said.
The convict, in his defence, claimed that the deceased was not his biological brother and but admitted killing him.
“He told me that he would kill me if am not careful of him. He kept threatening me until I got up angrily, took a bottle and stabbed him on his right neck. He fell down, I went to him and told him that he would bleed and die, which he eventually did.
“When he died, I dragged his body to a nearby bush to bury it. I hide his corpse and covered it with leaves so that no one could see it. I then went back home and washed off the blood stains on my hand,” he said.
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