Kwara high court sentences 2 robbers to death

A High Court in Ilorin, Kwara State, has sentenced two armed robbers to death by hanging.

The presiding judge, Justice Aminat Ishiaq, sentenced the convicts, Adeyemi Aderinkomi and Timothy Ajayi, after finding them guilty of conspiracy, culpable homicide and armed robbery.

The court said the two armed robbers killed Mr. and Mrs. Michael Aigbe of Fate area, Ilorin in December 2016. They were said to have tied their hands with rope, dumped them inside a well alive and locked it up to avoid being rescued.

The judgment revealed that the convicts made away with their victims’ car, money, clothes and many other valuable items.

The prosecutor, Barrister Ishola Olofere, who expressed satisfaction over the judgment, said it would serve in curtailing criminality in the state.

The convicted armed robbers were said to have earlier admitted to robbing and killing a couple, Mr. Michael Akhigbe (65) and Juana (60), at Fate area in Ilorin.

One of the convicts, Ajayi, who claimed to be a teacher, said he became an armed robber because of financial problem. “I regret it. I have only tried to dupe one person, but I was not successful. I am a teacher,” he said.

The second convict, Adeyemi, said the couple did not offend them, adding that they robbed the family after they were informed that the couple had important documents in their possession.

A family member of the deceased, Mr. Bernard John, had on December 21, 2016, reported at the ‘F’ Division, Tanke, Ilorin, that he visited the house of the deceased to convey him to work, only for him to discover that the couple was to be found.

A former commissioner of police in the state, Mr. Olusola Amore, had reported that on the strength of Mr. Bernard John’s report, police detectives visited the house and found bloodstains in the room of the couple.

They said a search in the compound led them to where the bodies of the deceased were in a well within the premises.

Police investigation led to the arrest of Aderinkomi and Ajayi, who were the masterminds of the crime.

The convicts confessed to the crime and one of them, Ajayi, also confessed to raping the woman before they killed her.