Nigerians were stunned on Tuesday as social media was awash with reports of an only child, Segun Olowookere, who was sentenced to death in Osun State for stealing fowl.
There were different versions of what truly transpired and why the convict was given what many considered a harsh punishment for the offence.
Olowookere was put into detention in 2010, noted that the complainant in the matter was a family member of the convict.
He was arrested when he was barely 17 years old when the crime was committed.
In an exclusive interview with newsmen, Olowookere explained the actual circumstances of his sentencing.
Olowookere was arrested alongside another convict, Sunday Morakinyo, in Oyan, Odo-Otin Local Government of Osun State, in November 2010.
They were accused of robbing a policeman attached to the Divisional Police Headquarters, Okuku, Tope Balogun, of two fowls and eggs.
On January 30, 2013, the police arraigned them before Justice Jide Falola of the state High Court in Ikirun for robbery and stealing.
Olowookere and Morakinyo were said to have conspired in November 2010 to rob one Oguntade Faramade of his fowls and eggs worth N20,000.
They were also accused of robbing Balogun Taye of his two mobile phones and attempting to rob another person, Alhaja Umani Oyewo, in her house.
According to the charge sheet, the convicts were armed with cutlasses and a Dane gun to rob one Elizabeth Dare of a gallon of vegetable oil.
Both Olowookere and Morakinyo pleaded not guilty to the charges.
However, Olowooke was said to have made a confessional statement to the police in which he admitted to committing the crime.
The state counsel, Biola Adewemimo, called six witnesses, including Alhaja Oyewo, Elizabeth Dare, Oguntade Faramade and three policemen, who testified against the convicts.
Olowookere’s counsel, Ayo Omolesho, argued that he was innocent as he was not arrested at the scene of the crime, maintaining that the prosecution failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.
However, Justice Falola convicted and sentenced Olowookere and Morakinyo to death (for conspiracy to commit armed robbery); life imprisonment (for robbery), and three years' imprisonment (for stealing) on December 17, 2014.
By the time of the judgement, Olowookere was 21 years old.
However, Falola recommended that the state governor could decide to commute the death sentence to 10 years' imprisonment, considering the age of the convicts.
Speaking to Olowookere, who is now a death row inmate in one of the custodial centres in the country.
According to him, the police would have released him had his parents raised the N30,000 demanded for his bail on time.
Recounting his journey to death row, the inmate said he surrendered himself to the police when they came looking for him in April 2010.
He said, “I was at my father’s shop in Oyan after returning from school. My dad and I were discussing my university admission and suddenly, we heard gunshots, and everybody ran away except my dad and a few others.
“My father was taken to a police van where there were some children. I was peeping out and could hear and see what was going on. The police asked my dad where I was and he asked them what my offence was. When they couldn’t give him a satisfactory response, my father shouted at the top of his voice that I should run away because the police wanted to arrest me.
“But I was wondering what my offence was. So, I came out and went to meet them. I was detained at the police post in Oyan, and was taken to Okuku Divisional Police Headquarters the following day. I met the children who were in the police van when they came for me sitting on the ground and eating rice.”
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