Court acquits ex-Oyo lawmaker of murder of Rep member

The Oyo State High Court yesterday discharged and acquitted a former member of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Mr Olafisoye Akinmoyede, in a case of murder that the police preferred against him. The police had charged Akinmoyede with murdering a former governorship and House of Assembly aspirant, Temitope Olatoye, popularly called, Sugar, during the […]

The Oyo State High Court yesterday discharged and acquitted a former member of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Mr Olafisoye Akinmoyede, in

a case of murder that the police preferred against him.

The police had charged Akinmoyede with murdering a former governorship and House of Assembly aspirant, Temitope Olatoye, popularly called, Sugar, during the March 9, 2019 elections in the state.

Olatoye, who represented the Lagelu/Akinyele federal constituency in the House of Representatives, was shot in the head during the election. Olatoye was in the Oyo State House of Assembly from 2011 to 2015, and was also elected into the House of Representatives in 2015.

Police investigations into the murder led to the arrest of Olafisoye Akinmoyede, Rafiu Adebayo, Rasheed Oladele and Kazeem Ayinde.

The prosecuting counsel, Mr M. A. Ojeah, who handled the case on behalf of the Commissioner of Police in Oyo State, had levelled a two-count charge of conspiracy and murder of Olatoye against Akinmoyede and three other persons.

Justice Ademola Adegbola, delivering judgment, discharged and acquitted Akinmoyede, saying the prosecution did not prove its case beyond reasonable doubt that he and the three other accused persons were the ones that shot Olatoye to death at Lalupon, in Lagelu local government.

The court held that the first prosecution witness, Mr Olatoye Olajide, who was the star witness in the case and younger brother to the deceased, submitted, when put on oath, that none of all the four accused persons was involved in the murder of his elder brother.

The court noted that Olajide mentioned one Jelili Okanlomo, who is still at large, as the person who committed the crime.

The judge stated, “In my view, taking together the charges filed against the four defendants, the prosecution has not established any nexus to connect any of the four defendants to the offences with regard to the murder of Olatoye Temitope Sugar. I, therefore, hold that the prosecution has not proved any of the ingredients relating to the two charges against the four defendants.

“The prosecution failed totally to prove any of the ingredients of the two charges preferred against the accused persons. It will amount to turning on the defendants to prove their innocence, which is not a requirement of the Nigeria criminal justice system. In fact, doing so, contravenes the constitutional rights of the four defendants, Section 36(5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

“In conclusion, taking together the case put before me by the prosecution together with the evidence led, I am of the opinion that

the prosecution failed to establish the charges preferred against the defendants, and the defendants are discharged and acquitted.”

The defence counsel, Adeboye Adetayo, who stood in for Michael Lana, commended the judiciary for the judgment, saying, “justice has prevailed.”