Ogun CJ sentences reveller to death by hanging for murder

An Ogun State High Court in Abeokuta, on Friday, sentenced a reveller, Rasheed Kareem, to death by hanging for the murder of  one Ahmed Muyideen.
In her judgement, Justice Olatokunbo Olopade said the convict, who was returning from a carnival, smashed a bottle on Muyideen’s head and, thereafter, stabbed him with it.
Olopade, the Chief Judge of Ogun, said that the prosecution had proved the unlawful act which led to the death of the deceased beyond reasonable doubt.
“With all the evidence tendered in court during trial, I found that the accused person had unlawfully caused the death of the deceased.
“The act was done intentionally, so the court has found him (Kareem) guilty of the offence. I hereby sentence the accused to death by hanging,’’  she said.
The Chief Judge said that the offence committed contravened Section 316, and was punishable under Section 391 of the Criminal Code, Law of Ogun 2006.
“Section 316 provides that any person who causes the death of another directly or indirectly by any means whatsoever is deemed to have killed the person,’’ Olopade said.
The convict, who had been standing trial since 2015, had at his arraignment pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Kareem was arrested and charged for breaking a bottle on the head of the deceased and stabbing him in the stomach with it, causing  his death.
The prosecution counsel, Mr Olubankole Mafe, had established during trial that the convict committed the offence about 8 pm on December 19, 2015 under ltoku Bridge in Abeokuta.
According to prosecution witnesses,  Muyideen had boarded a taxi while returning  from a church programme.
The taxi,  on getting to Itoku, was said to have developed a  fault,
One of the witnesses  said that Muyideen and other passengers came down to push the taxi off  the road.
“While trying to push the taxi to a safe place for repairs, the accused person, who was coming from a community carnival, came down from his motorcycle with an empty bottle and  smashed it on Kareem’s head before stabbing  him in the stomach.
“Kareem was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Idi Aba,  in Abeokuta, where he received treatment, but later died after two days,”  the witness  said.
In his allocutus after the conviction of his client, the defence counsel, Mr Oludotun Sotonade, urged the court to temper justice with mercy.