Justice Oyeyemi Ajayi of the Oyo State High Court on Monday sentenced six persons to death by hanging over conspiracy and murder.

The convicts—Segun Taiwo, 36; Kehinde Ademola, 46; Yahaya Adeniyi, 45; Chinonso Samson, 41; and Opadotun Michael, 32—were found guilty on a two-count charge of conspiracy and murder.

NAN reports that Justice Ajayi convicted the six and sentenced them to death by hanging.

In his judgment, Justice Ajayi said, “due to the reasons provided for each of the defendants and the circumstantial evidence of murder, I am of the considered view that this court could safely infer conspiracy in the acts that led to the death of Akeem Shittu.

“In the final analysis, I sentenced each of the defendants to 20 years’ imprisonment for conspiracy to commit murder.

“Then on count two, each of the defendants is sentenced to death by hanging.”

The state counsel, led by Mrs K. K. Oloso, earlier told the court that the convicts and others at large, on April 10, 2024, at about 8:30 pm at Elepe, Arulogun Road, Ojoo, Ibadan, conspired and murdered one Akeem Shittu by inflicting a machete cut on him.

She said Shittu, a taxi driver, was alleged to have hit a motorcycle carrying two persons, leading to an argument that they attempted to settle at a nearby pub.

The deceased was asked to pay N50,000 for treatment but offered only N8,000. He was not allowed to leave the scene, was stripped naked, but later escaped.

He was, however, overpowered and killed with a machete, while his taxi was later found in front of one of the convict’s wife’s shops.

According to the prosecuting counsel, the offence is contrary to Section 316 and punishable under Sections 319 and 324 of the Criminal Code Laws of Oyo State 2000.