78-yr-old Man Sentenced To Death In Ondo For Killings School Proprietor
A man, Ojo Komolafe, has been sentenced to death by hanging by an Ondo State High Court for the murder of a school proprietor, Taofik Babalola, in 2021.
Komolafe, 78 years old, who pleaded not guilty to a two-count charge, was convicted of using a gun to kill Babalola in the Kajola area of Odigbo Local Government Area on August 7, 2021.
The court heard that Babalola was asleep when he was shot in the thigh by the convict.
During the trial, four witnesses were called by the prosecutor, including the deceased’s wife, a neighbour, a police officer, and a pathologist.
The deceased wife, Mrs Babalola, testified that she heard a gunshot and saw Komolafe holding a gun in their corridor.
She said that when she saw the convict, she ran to her husband’s room and found him on his bed in a pool of blood, shouting that Komolafe had shot him.
The convict denied the allegation, claiming that the wife of the deceased was coerced into implicating him and that some cultists he had reported for arson were involved in the conspiracy.
Komolafe said that he was at home with his wife when he heard the gunshot.
The presiding judge, Justice Yemi Fasanmi, noted discrepancies in the defendant’s testimony and dismissed his claim of a conspiracy as mere speculation.
Justice Fasanmi concluded that the defendant was guilty of causing the death of the deceased by shooting him at close range and that the victim was seen fleeing the scene of the crime.
The judge then ruled,
“You (the defendant) are hereby sentenced to be hanged on the neck until you die in the first count and seven years imprisonment for the second count.”
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