Killer of Lagos lawyer to die by hanging

The Lagos State High Court in Ikeja yesterday sentenced to death by hanging, Oluwaseun Oladapo, for killing a Lagosbased human rights lawyer, Mr. Kunle Fadipe.

Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye who delivered the judgment said she found Oladapo guilty of armed robbery, murder and assault brought against him by the police.

Before the judge’s ruling, the convict’s counsel, Worer Obuagbaka, appealed for mercy on his client.

But the prosecuting counsel, Mrs. O.A Olugasa, asked the court to reject the plea.

Oladapo was said to have murdered the lawyer at 3am on July 4, 2014 at his residence in No. 1 Harmony Estate, Ifako-Ijaiye, Iju, Lagos.

The prosecution was led by Mr Adeniji Kazeem, the Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice and Mrs Idowu Alakija, the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).

Oladapo was also charged with the murder of Mrs. Cecelia Owolabi, the mother-in-law to the late Fadipe, but the charge of murder was commuted to assault occasioning harm by the court.

The wife of the late lawyer, Mrs. Kemi Fadipe, in her testimony, narrated how the convict stormed their house, threatened them before finally stabbing her husband to death. She said after her husband was stabbed, Oladapo ran downstairs where he encountered her mother.

However, Oladapo, in his defence, testifying in Yoruba, denied committing the offence.