Mujeeb Akindoyin
A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has sentenced an artisan, Adakole Ogbodo, to death for the murder of his friend, identified as Bolaji, following a quarrel over sachet water.
Justice Modupe Nicol-Clay convicted Ogbodo after finding that the Lagos State Government had established the murder charge beyond reasonable doubt through what she described as strong and compelling circumstantial evidence.
The judge held that although no witness directly saw the moment the fatal injuries were inflicted, the chain of events surrounding the incident pointed irresistibly to Ogbodo as the person responsible for Bolaji’s death.
The incident occurred on January 31, 2022, at 66B Mosley Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
The prosecution, led by former Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions, Dr Babajide Martins, had accused Ogbodo of unlawfully killing Bolaji by hitting him with an iron object and stabbing him with a knife.
The charge was brought under Section 223 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015, which prescribes the death penalty for murder.
During the trial, the prosecution called three witnesses, including a carpenter, Chigozie Paul, and two police officers, Inspector Damian Ogunye and Inspector Adeniyi Shola.
Paul’s evidence formed a major part of the circumstantial case against Ogbodo.
He told the court that he and others were watching a football match between Senegal and Egypt when they heard shouts outside that somebody had been killed.
According to him, Ogbodo had earlier been eating with Bolaji before an argument reportedly broke out over sachet water.
Paul testified that he subsequently saw Ogbodo beat Bolaji with a scaffolding pipe during the ensuing fight.
He said Ogbodo pursued Bolaji across the road after the deceased fell and continued beating him.
Paul further told the court that he saw Bolaji’s lifeless body on Mosley Road the following morning, while Ogbodo was seated a short distance away.
He also testified that when police officers asked Ogbodo whether he knew the deceased, he answered in the affirmative.
Asked who killed Bolaji, Paul said Ogbodo allegedly responded, “Him.”
However, under cross-examination, Paul admitted that he was not present at the precise moment the fatal injuries were inflicted.
Inspector Ogunye told the court that the police received a report of the murder, visited the scene, photographed the body and conveyed it to the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, for examination.
He also testified that Ogbodo was arrested at the scene and that a knife was recovered from him.
The second police witness, Inspector Shola, told the court that the case was subsequently transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, for further investigation.
He added that some persons reportedly present during the incident declined to make statements to the police.
Ogbodo’s lawyer had urged the court to dismiss the prosecution’s case, arguing that the charge was not proved beyond reasonable doubt.
The defence pointed to alleged inconsistencies in the prosecution witnesses’ accounts, the absence of an eyewitness to the actual killing and the failure of the prosecution to tender an autopsy report establishing the precise cause of death.
Counsel also argued that some persons said to have witnessed the incident were not called to testify.
But Justice Nicol-Clay rejected the arguments, holding that an eyewitness was not indispensable to a murder conviction where the surrounding circumstances were sufficiently cogent and compelling.
The judge said circumstantial evidence could establish criminal responsibility where it was “cogent, complete and unequivocal” and led to an irresistible conclusion concerning the perpetrator.
“It is my view that in the absence of an eyewitness account of the commission of any offence, it is permissible to resort to the surrounding circumstances to fathom the perpetrator or perpetrators of the crime,” she held.
The judge said the evidence before the court established a compelling chain of circumstances linking Ogbodo with Bolaji’s death.
“The evidence before the court is overwhelming,” she held, noting that Ogbodo was seen beating the deceased and was later found close to his body.
Justice Nicol-Clay also dismissed the defence argument that the absence of medical evidence was fatal to the prosecution’s case.
“There is sufficient proof that the unlawful act of Ogbodo caused some harm to the deceased which caused the death of the deceased,” the judge held.
On the question of intention, the judge held that Ogbodo must have known that repeatedly hitting a person on the head with a scaffolding rod could cause death or grievous bodily harm.
“The court finds that the convict set out to cause grievous bodily harm to the deceased knowing that the probable consequence of the use of a scaffolding rod on the head of the deceased could be death,” she said.
The court consequently found Ogbodo guilty of murder.
Before sentence was passed, his lawyer pleaded for mercy, telling the court that the convict had been in custody since 2022, had no family or support system and deserved leniency.
Justice Nicol-Clay, however, held that Section 223 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015 prescribed a mandatory death sentence for murder and left the court without discretion on the punishment.
The judge also noted what she described as Ogbodo’s high degree of complicity and the fact that the ultimate harm suffered by the victim was death.
She subsequently sentenced Ogbodo to death for murder.
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