An Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure has sentenced a 32-year-old man, Toba Adeyemi, to death by hanging for the killing of a youth leader, Michael Alademomi, popularly known as “Eko,” during a violent supremacy clash in the state capital.

Adeyemi was prosecuted on a two-count charge bordering on conspiracy and murder following the incident which occurred in May 2021.

Delivering judgment on the matter, Justice Yemi Fasanmi ruled that the prosecution had established its case beyond reasonable doubt and consequently found the defendant guilty as charged.

The court sentenced Adeyemi to 14 years imprisonment for conspiracy and ordered that he be hanged for the murder of the deceased.

Justice Fasanmi declared, “The prosecution has successfully discharged the burden of proof placed upon it by law. The evidence before the court clearly established that the defendant committed the offence of murder punishable by death.”

According to the prosecution counsel, D.G. Kayode, the convict and several accomplices who are still at large carried out the attack on May 1, 2021, at Fadeyi Street, Oshinle area of Akure.

Kayode told the court that the deceased was allegedly beaten and stabbed in the neck by the gang after Adeyemi reportedly led the group to Alademomi’s residence around 5 p.m.

During the trial, the prosecution presented four witnesses and tendered the defendant’s extra-judicial statement as evidence.

One of the witnesses informed the court that Adeyemi arrived at the scene with about eight men riding motorcycles and allegedly identified the victim before the assault began.

The witness said the deceased ran into his residence while screaming for help and bleeding heavily from the neck after he was stabbed.

According to the testimony, the attackers fled immediately after the assault while the victim was rushed to a hospital where he later died from excessive blood loss.

The witness further stated that medical observations revealed a deep cut on the deceased’s neck.

Although Adeyemi denied involvement in the crime, his counsel, Fortune Falade, argued that there was no direct evidence linking his client to the fatal stabbing.

However, Justice Fasanmi held that both oral and documentary evidence before the court showed that the convict deliberately mobilised armed supporters to intimidate and attack the deceased following an earlier disagreement.

The judge maintained that the injuries inflicted during the assault directly resulted in Alademomi’s death, adding that the testimonies of prosecution witnesses were consistent and corroborated one another.

Adeyemi was thereafter sentenced to death by hanging in line with the provisions of the law.