Tongues have been wagging following the pardon granted by Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State to a man, Olowookere Segun, who was sentenced to death by a court in the state.
Findings by The Point revealed that retired Justice Sakariyah Oyejide Falola of an Osun State High Court sitting in Okuku sentenced Segun and another man, Morakinyo Sunday, to death by hanging for stealing fowls.
The National Judicial Council had in December 2023, recommended the compulsory retirement of Justice S. O. Falola.
He was found guilty of granting a Garnishee Order Absolute against Polaris Bank for the sum of N283,174,000.00 in a questionable manner.
A statement by the council’s Director of Information, Adesoji Oye, indicated that the investigation committee held that Falola traveled to Lagos to visit the bank’s counsel in his chambers on the issue of Garnishee Proceedings, an action which it described as unprofessional.
However, concerned stakeholders and other members of the public have been wondering why someone who reportedly stole fowls would get death sentence as punishment.
It was reported that Falola had found the convicts, Olowookere Segun and Morakinyo Sunday, guilty of forcefully breaking into the house of one Mr. Balogun Tope, a police officer attached to Divisional Police headquarters, Okuku, in April 2010 and carting away some of his belongings.
The convicts were said to have been charged with conspiracy, robbery and stealing which are contrary to Section 6(b) and 1(2)(a) of Robbery and Firearm (Special Provisions) Act, cap R 11 Laws of Federation of Nigeria 2004 and Section (390)(1) Criminal Code Law, Cap 34, Laws of Osun State, 2002.
The prosecution team, led by the state Solicitor-General, Mrs Abiola Adewemimo, was said to have called six witnesses and tendered several exhibits during the prosecution.
The prosecution had reportedly told the court that on November 13, 2010, some men were sighted around Balogun’s home while armed with cutlass and a dane gun, and that while two of them were arrested, others escaped.
The duo were accused of robbing the poultry farm in Oyan, Odo-Otin Local Government Area of the state.
It was reported that the convicts confessed that they stole the complainant’s fowls, adding that they had been in his house before to steal.
Adewemimo said, “They also stated that they had earlier robbed Alhaja Umani Oyewo in her house and stole broilers, eggs and kegs of vegetable oil from the house.”
In his judgment, Justice Falola convicted them on only three counts to death for conspiracy; life sentence for robbery, and three years imprisonment for stealing.
Justice Falola had recommended that the state governor can decide to commute the death sentence to 10 years imprisonment, considering the convicts’ ages.
The parents of Segun had claimed that as at the time of the trial, he was 17 years of age.
The Point findings revealed that the case took over four years before judgment was delivered in December 2014.
After ten years of languishing in prison, the parents of Segun, cried out to Governor Ademola Adeleke, to intervene and grant amnesty to their son.
Months after their appeal, Adeleke ordered Segun’s pardon and also directed investigation into the matter.
Adeleke, in a statement by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, ordered the Attorney General to intervene in the matter and ensure the young man is listed for the prerogative of mercy before the end of the year.
“Osun is a land of justice and equity. We must ensure fairness and protection of the sanctity of lives,” Adeleke was quoted in the statement.
He assured the public that the matter will receive his direct attention, adding that “a sense of urgency is also attached to our response to the matter as a responsible state government.”
The Point findings revealed that the relatives of Morakinyo Sunday have abandoned him ever since he was arrested and even when he was sentenced to death, there has not been any intervention by them.
