A pastor, Adewale Adelu, and five others – Ikechuckwu Maduagwu, Fayemi Olubusuyi, Ropo Adeleye, Dele Otopka, and Bayo Omotosho are to die by hanging over their involvement in bank robberies in Akure and Idanre in 2011.
Justice Yemi Fasanmi of an Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure, the state capital handed down the ruling on Tuesday.
Justice Fasanmi, on Tuesday, while ruling on the case said the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, adding that the defendants were unanimous in their confessions and the role each of them played in the robberies.
Justice Fasanmi then sentenced all the defendants to death by hanging on each of the counts.
The convicts were arrested by the men of the state police command and were charged to court.
They were charged with conspiracy, armed robbery, and illegal possession of firearms and were later remanded in Olokuta Correctional Centre.
The prosecutor, F.K Salami, informed the court that the convicts and others were “armed with AK 47 guns, dynamite, and other weapons at Oyemekun Road, Akure, conspired to attack and robbed a branch of Diamond Bank Plc, after which they went away with a sum of 30 million and different brand of phones, including other valuable property.
“The convicts on December 8, 2011, at 2 pm, were also alleged to have robbed First Bank Plc at Yaba Road, Idanre, where they carted away another sum of N4 million.”
“Tthe offences contravene Sections 6b, 1 2a, and b of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act, Cap R11, Vol. 14 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.”
A court in Akure had earlier sentenced a man, Gbenga Akintola, to 21 years imprisonment for robbery.
The police and Amotekun had arrested Akintola in Ondo town in 2021 for using cutlasses to rob three individuals of their money and valuables.
He was later charged and brought before the court on five counts, including conspiracy to commit armed robbery.
