The Akure Division of the Ondo State High Court has sentenced a serving police officer, David Friday, and a self-acclaimed soldier, Innocent Victor, to death by hanging for multiple armed robbery offences in Idanre.
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The duo faced a four-count charge of conspiracy, armed robbery, and impersonating security personnel.
Prosecution witnesses testified that on January 15, 2021, the men one in a black police T-shirt and the other in military camouflage used jack knives to rob victims at different locations in Idanre, seizing cash, a phone, and fuel.
They also assaulted victims and threatened them with a pistol.
Akinleye said both were armed with jack knives and were flashing the headlight of their TVS motorcycle at him.
He noted that men ransacked his vehicle, took N6, 000 from him, and instructed him to fuel their motorcycle with 30 litres of petrol, which he did.
He later discovered that his Itel phone, valued at N8,500, was also missing.
Another prosecution witness, Mr. Lanre Olowogbadegun said he was on night duty at Yaba Junction in Idanre that same night when he saw two men on a black TVS motorcycle one in a police T-shirt and the other in army camouflage.
Olowogbadegun, a security guard, added that the two men ordered him to drop his gun, but he refused.
“Shortly after, the men stopped an 18-seater bus, ordered the driver out, made him sit on the floor, and took all his money,” he told the court.
Olowogbadegun said the men beat the driver with jack knives and their fists, taking N5,000 from him. They offered him (Olowogbadegun) N2, 000, but he declined.
“Around 4 a.m., the driver returned to ask if I knew the two men, and I confirmed that I did. Together, we went to the police station to report,” he added.
When invited by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), the driver identified the man who had robbed him while wearing the police uniform.
The third prosecution witness, Adeyeye Sesan, a transporter, testified that he was returning home when he encountered the two men one in military camouflage and the other dressed like a policeman.
He said the man in camouflage demanded N10, 000, and when he refused, the man slapped him, dragged him out of his bus, and began to beat him.
The other man, in police uniform, joined in, using a pistol and sticks to assault him, according to Adeyeye.
He said they forcibly took N125, 000 from his pocket and the proceeds of his work for the day. After robbing him, they dragged him back to his bus and injured his leg with a dagger, threatening to kill him with the pistol.
Police prosecutor, Ilesanmi Samuel told the court that investigations revealed Friday was a serving member of the Nigeria Police Force attached to Olofin Police Division, Idanre, while Victor’s claim of being a soldier was false, as confirmed by the Owena Cantonment in Akure.
According to Samuel, both men confessed to the crimes.
In his verdict, Justice Williams Rotimi Olamide held that the prosecution had successfully proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The judge sentenced the defendants to death by hanging.
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