A Lagos State High Court has sentenced an artisan, Adakole Ogbodo, to death for murdering his friend, Bolaji, during a fight over sachet water. The incident occurred on January 31, 2022, at 66B Mosley Road, Ikoyi. Justice Modupe Nicol-Clay of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja convicted and sentenced Ogbodo to death, holding that the prosecution had proved the case against him beyond reasonable doubt.
The prosecution, led by former Lagos State Director of Public Prosecutions, Dr Babajide Martins, alleged that Ogbodo unlawfully killed Bolaji by striking 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. The prosecution called three witnesses, including a carpenter, Chigozie Paul, and police officers Inspector Damian Ogunye and Inspector Adeniyi Shola.
Chigozie Paul's testimony provided crucial circumstantial evidence, which the court ultimately relied on. He told the court that he and others were watching a Senegal versus Egypt football match when they heard shouts outside that someone had been killed. Paul said Ogbodo had earlier been eating with the deceased before an argument broke out over sachet water, leading to a fight.
Paul testified that he saw Ogbodo beat Bolaji with a scaffolding pipe during the fight and follow him across the road after he fell. He said he saw Bolaji's lifeless body on Mosley Road the following morning, while Ogbodo was sitting a short distance away. Paul further testified that when police asked Ogbodo whether he knew the deceased, he answered yes and allegedly replied, "Him," when asked who killed Bolaji.
However, under cross-examination, Paul acknowledged that he was not present when the fatal injuries were inflicted. Inspector Ogunye told the court that police received a murder report, visited the scene, photographed the body, and took it to the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba for examination. He also testified that Ogbodo was arrested at the scene and that police recovered a knife from him.
The defence challenged the prosecution's case, arguing that it had not proved the charge beyond reasonable doubt. They cited alleged inconsistencies in the prosecution witnesses' testimony, the lack of an eyewitness to the killing, and the prosecution's failure to produce an autopsy report establishing the precise cause of death. However, Justice Nicol-Clay held that the circumstances surrounding the incident pointed irresistibly to Ogbodo as the person responsible for Bolaji's death.
The court relied on strong and compelling circumstantial evidence to convict Ogbodo, despite no witness seeing the moment the fatal injuries were inflicted. The judge handed down the death penalty, as prescribed by the law, after holding that the prosecution had proved the case against Ogbodo beyond reasonable doubt.
Key points
- Adakole Ogbodo was sentenced to death for murdering his friend Bolaji over a quarrel about sachet water.
- The prosecution proved the case against Ogbodo beyond reasonable doubt through circumstantial evidence.
- The incident occurred on January 31, 2022, at 66B Mosley Road, Ikoyi, Lagos State.
