JUSTICE SERVED: Ekiti High Court Sentences Four to Death by Hanging Over Kidnapping and Murder

By David Alani Ige, (The Scribe)

July 24, 2026

               

                 

ADO-EKITI — The judiciary has sent a chilling and definitive message to criminal syndicates operating within the Southwest region, as an Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti sentenced four men to death by hanging on Friday. 

The condemned men were found guilty of a horrific four-count charge bordering on conspiracy, kidnapping, murder, and the illegal possession of firearms.

Presiding over the case, Justice Lekan Olatawura delivered a hard-hitting judgment, declaring that society must be purged of heartless individuals who thrive on the pain and blood of innocent citizens. 

The Crime: The Murder of Chief Ajayi Emmanuel

According to the court records, the tragic incident occurred on May 5, 2022. The four convicts—alongside a fleeing gang member identified as Akeem Banjo Adebayo—conspired to carry out a deadly operation along the Immigration Office axis in Ado-Ekiti. 

During the raid, the heavily armed syndicate invaded the residence of Chief Ajayi Emmanuel, abducted him, and later murdered him in cold blood. 

The prosecutor, Kunle-Shina Adeyemo, successfully proved the case beyond reasonable doubt by calling two vital witnesses and presenting an ironclad array of physical evidence. During the police raid that led to their arrest, operatives recovered four locally made cut-to-size single-barrel guns, 13 live cartridges, and other incriminating items concealed in a sack inside the residence of one of the convicts, Jimoh Dele. 

During the trial, a police witness, Sergeant Oladele Ayodeji, testified that the syndicate's operations were finally uncovered when one of the gang members was arrested during a separate robbery at Ekute in Ado-Ekiti. Interrogations subsequently led to the arrest of the other suspects at various locations.

The Judgment: "Perpetually Kept Away for Good"

After evaluating the confessional statements and the prosecutor's evidence, Justice Olatawura dismissed the defense put forward by the suspects' lawyers. The judge noted that the criminals were serial kidnappers, armed robbers, and housebreakers, with one of the convicts, Bunmi Ogunremi, identified as an ex-convict.

"The society will be better off if persons of grave criminal disposition like these heartless defendants are perpetually kept away for good. In any event, the punishments for the offences charged are strict and permit no exercise of discretion," Justice Olatawura declared.

The Breakdown of the Sentences:

On Conspiracy: All four defendants were sentenced to 21 years imprisonment each.

On Illegal Possession of Firearms: Jimoh Dele was sentenced to an additional 10 years imprisonment and a fine of ₦20,000.

On Kidnapping and Murder: Justice Olatawura delivered the ultimate penalty: "The sentence of the court upon all the defendants is that they be hanged by the neck until they are dead; may God have mercy on your souls."

The sentences are to run concurrently.

This landmark judgment serves as a profound warning that the days of kidnappers operating with impunity in Ekiti State and the broader Southwest region are numbered. The law may be slow, but its ultimate strike is fatal.

David Alani Ige, (The Scribe)

Publisher/ Editor-in-Chief, Ayekooto Media

Phunshor01@gmail.com | publisher@ayekootomediang.com

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