A 26-year-old man, Genty Azeez, who robbed a house
in Epe area of Lagos State and raped an occupant, was on Friday sentenced to
death.
An Ikeja High Court which handed down the verdict,
also sentenced one of his accomplices, 29-year-old David Adeniji to 20 years
imprisonment.
Justice Lateefat Okunnu said both men were guilty
of committing offences of conspiracy, armed robbery and rape.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the
convicts were charged to court by the Lagos State Directorate of Public
Prosecutions (DPP).
The state prosecutor, Mr Femi Adamson, said that
the men conspired with two other men still at large to commit the offences on
Nov.1, 2011.
According to him, they broke into the home of one
Alhaji Lawal in Onoja Estate, Epe, at about midnight and robbed the occupants.
He said apart from stealing items such as jewellery
and mobile phones, the four men also took turns to rape Lawal’s daughter.
The offences contravened Sections 285 (1), 295 (2),
(A) and 297 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.
In their testimonies, Lawal’s two daughters,
designated as PW1 and PW2, told the court that the four robbers gained entry
through the kitchen - They affirmed that the robbers came with two cutlasses
demanding the proceeds of a car which they claimed the family had sold the week
before.
The witnesses said following explanations by the
family that they had not sold any car during the period, the robbers pounced on
them and beat them up.
The sisters said the robbers raped one of them and
made away with their belongings.
One of the girls said Adeniji, also known as “Stone”, lived in their neighbourhood
and she was able to identify him the next day after the robbery.
The witness said she pointed out the robber to her
elder brother after she saw him staring at their house - the girl said she
identified Adeniji because there was light at the time of the robbery and that
Adeniji operated unmasked.
According to her, he was also wearing the same
shirt he wore during the operation. The witnesses said he was subsequently
apprehended and handed over to the police.
In their testimonies, both Adeniji and Azeez
claimed that they were in their respective houses with their families at the
time of the incident.
The court held that they failed to account for
their own whereabouts as at the time of the incident and that none of their
family members came to testify on their behalf.
In her judgment, Okunnu said the testimonies of the
two sisters had “a strong streak of
credibility” and that the counter- arguments of the convicts could not
hold. She consequently sentenced both of them to death.
The court, however, reviewed its judgment, following
pleas by the counsel to the defence, Mrs Olayinka Onabolu, of the Office of the
Public Defender. Onabolu urged the court to temper justice with mercy in
punishing Adeniji on the grounds that he had aged parents.
Following no objection from the prosecution
counsel, Okunnu then commuted Adeniji’s sentence to a 20-year jail term.
Source: (NAN)
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