Nigeria: Ondo court sentences man to death for killing co-tenant

By Zuleihat Owuiye, Mamos Nigeria

An Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure has sentenced a man, Sunday Omoniyi, to death by hanging for stabbing his co-tenant, Michael Oyebanji, to death during a fight. Omoniyi was arraigned on a one-count charge of murder contrary to Section 316 and punishable under Section 319 of the Criminal Code, Cap 37, Vol. 1, Laws of Ondo State of Nigeria 2006.

The incident occurred on July 23, 2022, at about 6:30 am at 4, Canaanland, Ijoka Road in Akure. According to witnesses, the defendant and the deceased had an argument over the closing of the door to the house. The argument was resolved, but later, the defendant stabbed the deceased with a knife.

One of the witnesses, Ismaila Adefaka, told the court that he heard noises and traced the uproar to the defendant’s apartment, where he found the deceased in a pool of blood. Other co-tenants, Adedeji Gift, Adedugbe Opeyemi, and Aremu Opeyemi, testified that they saw the defendant with a knife stained with blood and heard him confess to stabbing the deceased in retaliation for a fist blow.

Delivering judgment, Justice W. Olamide held that the prosecution had successfully proved the case of murder against the defendant and sentenced him to death by hanging. The police prosecutor, Inspector Fisayo Oladepo, had told the court that the defendant confessed to committing the crime after his arrest by police detectives.