The Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has sentenced a man, Adakole Ogbodo, to death for killing a man identified as Bolaji during a fight over sachet water (pure water).
Ogbodo was said to have hit the late Bolaji with a scaffolding pipe during a scuffle over the water.
Justice Modupe Nicol-Clay, in her judgment delivered on Monday, found Ogbodo guilty of murder.
The Case
The judge held that the prosecution has established its case through compelling circumstantial evidence.
The Lagos State government had, through the prosecution counsel, led by the former Director of Public Prosecutions, Dr Babajide Martins, and Mrs Titilayo Olanrewaju-Daud, arraigned Adakole Ogbodo, for the murder of Bolaji.
The prosecution had told the court that the deceased was killed with an iron and a knife in Ikoyi, Lagos.
Olanrewaju-Daud told the court that the incident occurred after the convict and deceased were involved in a fight.
The Offence
The offence committed contravened Section 223 of the Criminal Law, of Lagos State 2015.
According to the charge dated June 20, 2022, the offence occurred on January 31, 2022, at No. 66B Mosley Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
The prosecution alleged that Ogbodo “unlawfully killed” Bolaji by hitting him with an iron object and stabbing him with a knife.
Section 223 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State provides the punishment for murder as death.
During the trial, the prosecution called three witnesses, including a carpenter, Chigozie Paul, and two police officers, Inspectors Damian Ogunye and Adeniyi Shola.
The prosecution also gave evidence that a knife was recovered from the convict when he was arrested.
The court held that the prosecution established beyond doubt that Ogbodo caused the deceased’s death and did so with the requisite intention.
Paul testified that he saw Ogbodo beating the deceased with a scaffolding pipe during a fight and later saw the deceased’s body on Mosley Road.
The witness told the court that he and others were watching a Senegal versus Egypt football match when they heard people shouting outside that someone had been killed.
Paul testified that the convict had earlier been eating with the deceased before an argument broke out over the water.
According to him, Ogbodo hit the deceased with a pipe, causing him to fall, and followed him across the road where he allegedly continued beating him.
The witness said he saw the deceased’s body the following morning on Mosley Road, Ikoyi, while the convict was sitting a short distance away.
Paul further testified that the police asked Ogbodo whether he knew the deceased, to which he answered, “yes.”
He said when the police asked who killed him, the convict replied, “Him.” (Ogbodo).
Under cross-examination, however, Paul admitted that he was not at the scene when the actual incident occurred.
Ogunye and Shola, also testified for the prosecution.
Ogunye told the court that the police received a murder report, visited the scene, photographed the body and took it to the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, for further examination.
He also testified that the convict was arrested at the scene and that a knife was recovered from him.
Shola told the court that the case was later transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, for further investigation.
He told the court that some alleged eyewitnesses declined to make statements.
The defence had argued that the prosecution failed to prove the charge beyond reasonable doubt, pointing to contradictions in the testimonies of the prosecution witnesses and the absence of an eyewitness to the actual killing.
Defence counsel also argued that there was no autopsy report establishing the cause of death and that the prosecution failed to call some people allegedly present at the scene.
But Justice Nicol-Clay rejected the arguments, holding that the absence of an eyewitness did not prevent the prosecution from relying on circumstantial evidence.
The judge said: “It is my view that in the absence of an eyewitness account of the commission of any offence, it is permissible to recourse to the surrounding circumstances in order to fathom the perpetrator or perpetrators of the crime.”
She added that circumstantial evidence could sustain a murder conviction where it was “cogent, complete and unequivocal” and led to the irresistible conclusion that the accused committed the crime.
According to the judge, there was “strong and compelling circumstantial evidence” linking Ogbodo to the death.
“The evidence before the court is overwhelming,” she held, noting that the convict was seen beating the deceased and was later found near his body.
Justice Nicol-Clay also rejected the argument that the absence of medical evidence was fatal to the prosecution’s case.
She held that there was sufficient evidence linking the convict’s unlawful act to the deceased’s death.
“There is sufficient proof that the unlawful act of Ogbodo caused some harm to the deceased which caused the death of the deceased, that the prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt the charge against the convict,” the judge held.
On the question of intention, the judge held that the convict must have known that hitting the deceased on the head with a scaffolding rod could result in death or grievous bodily harm.
She added: “The court finds that the convict set out to cause grievous bodily harm to the deceased knowing that the probable consequence of the use of a scaffolding rod on the head of the deceased could be death.”
The judge added that the law presumes that a person intends the natural consequences of his actions.
Justice Nicol-Clay consequently found Ogbodo guilty of murder.
Before pronouncing the sentence, the court noted that murder carries a mandatory death sentence under Section 223 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.
The judge said the convict’s degree of complicity was high and noted that the harm caused the death of the victim.
The court also considered the convict’s plea for mercy.
In his allocutus, the defence counsel told the court that the convict had been in custody since 2022, had no support or family to assist him and pleaded for leniency.
The judge, however, held that the sentence was mandatory and that the court had no discretion in the matter.
She consequently sentenced Ogbodo to death for the offence of murder.
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
