Real reason I was sentenced to d£ath – Osun ‘boy’ convicted of fowl theft
Nigerians were stunned on Tuesday as social media was awash with reports of an only child, Segun Olowookere, who was sentenced to death in Osun State for stealing fowl.
There were different versions of what truly transpired and why the convict was given what many considered a harsh punishment for the offence.
Our correspondent, who has been following the matter since Olowookere was put into detention in 2010, noted that the complainant in the matter was a family member of the convict.
He was arrested when he was barely 17 years old when the crime was committed.
In an exclusive interview with Sunday PUNCH, Olowookere explained the actual circumstances of his sentencing.
The facts
Olowookere was arrested alongside another convict, Sunday Morakinyo, in Oyan, Odo-Otin Local Government of Osun State, in November 2010.
They were accused of robbing a policeman attached to the Divisional Police Headquarters, Okuku, Tope Balogun, of two fowls and eggs.
On January 30, 2013, the police arraigned them before Justice Jide Falola of the state High Court in Ikirun for robbery and stealing.
Olowookere and Morakinyo were said to have conspired in November 2010 to rob one Oguntade Faramade of his fowls and eggs worth N20,000.
They were also accused of robbing Balogun Taye of his two mobile phones and attempting to rob another person, Alhaja Umani Oyewo, in her house.
According to the charge sheet, the convicts were armed with cutlasses and a Dane gun to rob one Elizabeth Dare of a gallon of vegetable oil.
Both Olowookere and Morakinyo pleaded not guilty to the charges.
However, Olowooke was said to have made a confessional statement to the police in which he admitted to committing the crime.
The state counsel, Biola Adewemimo, called six witnesses, including Alhaja Oyewo, Elizabeth Dare, Oguntade Faramade and three policemen, who testified against the convicts.
Olowookere’s counsel, Ayo Omolesho, argued that he was innocent as he was not arrested at the scene of the crime, maintaining that the prosecution failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.
However, Justice Falola convicted and sentenced Olowookere and Morakinyo to death (for conspiracy to commit armed robbery); life imprisonment (for robbery), and three years imprisonment (for stealing) on December 17, 2014.
By the time of the judgement, Olowookere was 21 years old.
However, Falola recommended that the state governor could decide to commute the death sentence to 10 years imprisonment, considering the age of the convicts.
Olowookere speaks
After several days of efforts, Sunday PUNCH spoke to Olowookere, who is now a death row inmate in one of the custodial centres in the country.
According to him, the police would have released him had his parents raised the N30,000 demanded for his bail on time.
Former attorney urges caution
However, a former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Oyo State, Mutalubi Adebayo, cautioned Adeleke on the matter, just as he warned against actions that could endanger judges and expose them to threats from criminals, potentially leading to loss of life.
He said, “The claim that the prisoner was convicted and sentenced to death for stealing a fowl is an outright falsehood and cheap blackmail, aimed at securing his release through underhanded means.
“The convict was a member of a notorious gang of armed robbers that terrorised residents of Odo-Otin LGA in Osun State before his arrest. He was fairly tried, convicted, and sentenced to death by hanging by the Osun State High Court. There has been no appeal against the judgment in over 14 years.”
Falana faults sentence
Commenting on the matter, a human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, faulted the death sentence passed on Olowookere, describing it as illegal.
Falana, in a statement on Friday, said the high court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the case, knowing that Olowookere committed the offence as a minor.
He said, “We submit that the trial, conviction, and death sentence passed on Olowokere Segun were illegal, null and void in every material particular. Since it was not denied that Olowokere was 17 years old at the time of his trial, the Osun State High Court lacked the jurisdictional competence to have tried him.
“The case ought to have been instituted in the Osun State Family Court which is exclusively empowered to exercise jurisdiction in any criminal proceeding involving or relating to any penalty, forfeiture, punishment, or other liability in respect of an offence committed by a child, against a child or against the interest of a child.”
Falana added that even if a child was found guilty of armed robbery, he or she shall not be ordered to be imprisoned or subjected to corporal punishment or death penalty.
“Since the trial, conviction and death sentence passed on Olowokere Segun cannot be justified in law, Governor Ademola Adeleke has rightly granted him full pardon in exercise of the prerogative of mercy conferred on him by section 214 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he submitted.
NJC retires trial judge
Justice Falola, who convicted and sentenced Olowookere to death, is known for handling controversial and intense criminal, political, religious, and other litigations.
Because of his courage, he was nicknamed Iroko.
However, the judge was forced to go on compulsory retirement on December 7, 2023, by the National Judicial Council after being found guilty of granting a Garnishee Order Absolute against Polaris Bank for the sum of N283,174,000.00 in a questionable manner.
Falola was said to have travelled to Lagos to visit the bank’s counsel and prostrated himself for him in his chambers on the issue of the Garnishee Proceedings, an action described as unprofessional.
Lingering appeal
The High Court judgement was, however, appealed in 2011 as the case is still pending at the Court of Appeal, Akure, Ondo State.
Saturday PUNCH gathered that financial constraints were a major factor the case is still dragging at the appellate court.
According to reliable sources, two different lawyers handled the case before the service of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria was sought.
But the SAN is yet to appear before the court
