An Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan has sentenced five men to death after finding them guilty of murdering a taxi driver, Akeem Shittu, in Arulogun, Akinyele Local Government Area, in 2024.
Justice Oyeyemi Ajayi delivered the judgment on Monday, convicting Segun Taiwo (36), Kehinde Ademola (46), Yahaya Adeniyi (45), Chinonso Samson (41), and Opadotun Michael (32) for conspiracy and murder.
The judge held that the court could safely infer conspiracy from their coordinated actions leading to Shittu’s death.
Each defendant was handed a 20-year prison term for conspiracy and sentenced to death by hanging on the charge of murder.
Earlier, State Counsel K. K. Oloso narrated how a minor road incident escalated into a fatal attack. She explained that on April 10, 2024, around 8:30 p.m., along Elepe, Arulogun Road in the Ojoo area of Ibadan, the defendants and others still at large assaulted Shittu after his vehicle accidentally hit a motorcycle carrying two passengers.
The parties reportedly moved to a nearby pub to settle the dispute, where the motorcyclists’ group allegedly demanded ₦50,000 for treatment.
Shittu offered ₦8,000 but was prevented from leaving and stripped naked.
Although he briefly escaped, he was later cornered and hacked to death with a machete.
Investigators later found his taxi and a handkerchief abandoned in front of a shop belonging to the wife of one of the convicts.
The prosecution told the court that the offences violated Sections 316, 319, and 324 of the Criminal Code Laws of Oyo State 2000, which prescribe severe penalties for conspiracy and homicide.