One Ojo Komolafe has been sentenced to death by hanging for the murder of a school proprietor, Taofik Babalola, in Ondo.
Komolafe, a community leader, was convicted and sentenced by an Ondo State High Court on Friday after he pleaded not guilty to a two-count charge brought against him.
The 78-year-old defendant was convicted of using a gun to kill Babalola in the Kajola area of Odigbo Local Government Area of the the South West state on August 7, 2021.
During the trial, four witnesses were called by the prosecutor, including the deceased’s wife, a neighbour, a police officer, and a pathologist.
Mrs Babalola, the victim’s widow, told the court that she heard a gunshot and saw Komolafe holding a gun in their corridor.
she said she ran to her husband’s room when she saw the convict with a firearm only to find him on his bed in a pool of blood, shouting that Komolafe had shot him.
The convict, however, denied the allegation, claiming that the wife of the deceased was forced into incriminating him and that some cultists he had reported for arson were involved in the conspiracy.
According to Komolafe, he was at home with his wife when he heard the gunshot.
The presiding judge, Justice Yemi Fasanmi, averred that defendant’s testimony is full of inconsistencies dismissed his claim of a conspiracy as unfounded.
Justice Fasanmi concluded that the defendant was guilty of causing the death of the deceased by shooting him at point blank range and that the victim was seen fleeing the scene of the crime.
“You (the defendant) are hereby sentenced to be hanged on the neck until you die in the first count and seven years imprisonment for the second count,” the judge ruled.
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