Court sentences man to death for killing brother in Lagos

An Ikeja High Court on Monday sentenced to death a 33-year-old man, Abiodun Allen, for killing his immediate younger brother, Wale, with a broken bottle.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Abiodun who was first arraigned on October 6, 2015, was convicted of killing Wale by stabbing him in the throat and stomach.

Justice Raliatu Adebiyi, while convicting Abiodun, said that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and all the necessary ingredients to secure a conviction for murder had been established.

The judge noted that the testimonies of the four prosecution witnesses (Mr. Sunday Abogunrin who is a family friend of the convict and three police officers)

corroborated the confessional statement of Abiodun to the police.

Convicting Abiodun, the judge said: “Abiodun Allen is hereby found guilty of the murder of his brother, Wale Allen, I so hold.”

Following his conviction, Allen’s defence counsel, Mrs. Y. A Ajayi told the court that she was not going to give an allocutus (plea for mercy) on the defendant’s behalf.

Sentencing the convict, Justice Adebiyi noted that Section 221 gave a mandatory death sentence and did not give the court discretionary powers while meting out the sentence. “Abiodun Allen having been found guilty of murder is hereby sentenced to death. May God the giver of life, have mercy on your soul,” she said.

Upon hearing the sentence, Abiodun remained expressionless as he left the dock to be led away by prison officials.

NAN reports that during the trial, Abogunrin (PW2) had testified before the court that Abiodun was notorious in the community for ingesting illegal substances, beating up people and randomly killing animals.

Abogunrin, who is also the landlord to the Allen family, said that in the early hours of the morning of the incident, he caught Abiodun dragging the body of the deceased to the bush behind their residence to secretly bury it. The prosecution, led by Mrs. O. R AhmedMuili, said the convict committed the offence at 11:00pm on February 20, 2013, at Imudo Village, Oto Awori, Lagos following years of toxic sibling rivalry between the pair.