A former Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Oyo State chapter, Alhaji Lamidi Mukaila, fondly called Auxiliary, and four other accused persons, on Monday, were sentenced to six years imprisonment by an Oyo State High Court for their involvement in a crisis that claimed the lives of some innocent people in Ibadan in March 2014.
Alhaji Mukaila and other members of the Union, including Saheed Kareem, Abu Kareem, Kazeem Kayode and Taiwo Tijani, had been standing trial for the mayhem at Iwo road interchange, Ibadan.
Among the victims was one Adekunle Oladipupo, who was studying medicine at a university in the North at the time of his untimely death.
Mukaila and the others were first arraigned at the state Magistrate Court, Iyaganku on two counts charge before the case was transferred to the State High Court.
Speaking at the High Court, counsel to the accused persons, Mr. Olalekan Ojo, said his clients would appeal the judgment, adding that since the court had acquitted and discharged them of murder and attempted murder, the conspiracy for which they were convicted did not exist.
While delivering judgment, Justice Eni Esan said the accused persons were charged with a three-count charge of conspiracy, murder and attempted murder.
Justice Esan noted that the prosecution witness one, Akeem Agbaje, in his evidence, told the court that he was beside Oladipupo on the said day when the accused persons, with others at large, stormed the motor park in a Peugeot 604 belonging to Mukaila and two other Nissan Micra cars, shooting sporadically.
The witness disclosed that it was during the shooting that a bullet hit the deceased, who died immediately, adding that he too, sustained serious injuries.
Justice Esan also said during cross examination, that the PW1 told the court that although the incident occurred around 9:45pm, he was able to identify the accused persons with the aid of head lights of the cars that lit up the place.
The judge said he was not convinced that the witness could identify the accused persons using the head lights.
On the allegations of attempted murder, the judge held that since the argument of the PW 1 had failed by identifying the accused through vehicle head light, the charge could not stand because it was already late in the night.
“The court hereby discharges the accused persons on the murder charge,” he said.
However, Justice Esan further held that the accused persons, both in evidence-in-chief and statement to the police, agreed that the first accused person (Mukaila) is their leader and also said they had been meeting in his Diamond Hotel at Alakia Isebo, Ibadan.
He ruled that since the first accused person admitted that he owned guns and the accused were caught in a car with rounds of bullet, they were guilty of conspiracy and sentenced to six years imprisonment each.
The prosecution counsel from the Director of Public Prosecution, Abdul Ganiyu, abided by the judgment while Lekan Ojo, counsel to the accused, pleaded with the court, after finding his client guilty, to reduce the jail term because he was a first offender who has a family to cater for.
