Two men in Nigeria have been sentenced to die by hanging after the courts determined found them guilty of the armed robbery of a Christian woman on her way home from church. Ariyo Ayodeji, 22, and Ayodele Oluwakayode, 20, were charged under Section 402 and Section 516 of the Criminal Code Cap C16 Laws of Ekiti State.
Justice Lekan Ogunmoye sentenced the accused to five years imprisonment each for conspiracy and to death by hanging for robbing Stella Faniyi.
Faniyi was leaving her church at Oke Osun in the Ikere Ekiti area early in the morning on March 1, 2016 when Ayodeji and Oluwakayode pointed a gun at her and took her handbag, which contained cash and an ATM card, her Nokia Lumia cellphone, a Bible and a church hymnbook.
Ayodeji and Oluwakayode quickly ran off with Faniyi's items on a bicycle and she reported the incident to the police.
A few weeks later, the perpetrators also robbed Bunmi Arije along Afao Road in Ado Ekiti. Similar to their robbery of Faniyi, Ayodeji and Oluwakayode were armed as they took Arije's cellphones, ATM cards and cash.
According to reports, police arrested Ayodeji and Oluwakayode after a regular patrol and they were charged before the Magistrate's Court. The Director of Public Prosecution, however, advised the police that the criminals should be charged in the High Court.
Both Ayodeji and Oluwakayode entered a plea of not guilty during their arraignment in February 2017. Prosecutors, however, presented a strong case against the accused, which included witnesses' statements, the fact they were armed, and the items they stole.
