Lagos Court Sentences Man to Death for Murder Over Dispute Involving Woman

A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has sentenced Justice Odey to death by hanging after convicting him of the murder of 35-year-old Benedict Agara during a dispute involving a woman identified as Amina.

Justice Modupe Nicol-Clay delivered the judgment in Suit No. LD/17040C/2021, holding that the prosecution proved the charge of murder beyond reasonable doubt.

The court heard that the incident occurred on April 3, 2021, at Block 33, Flat 102, Jakande Housing Estate, Lagos, where Odey attacked Agara with a broken bottle during a fight. The victim sustained multiple stab wounds to his hand, stomach and other parts of his body and later died from the injuries.

During the trial, the prosecution, led by Titilayo Olanrewaju Daud and Z. O. Abdulaziz, called the investigating police officer, ASP Mariam Ibrahim, as its sole witness and tendered six exhibits before the court.

In her judgment, Justice Nicol-Clay ruled that the prosecution established all the essential ingredients of the offence, noting that the burden of proof in criminal cases remains with the prosecution throughout the trial except in circumstances recognised by law.

The judge rejected the defence’s argument that the testimony of the investigating police officer amounted to hearsay, holding that evidence obtained during the course of an investigation is admissible in law.

She also dismissed claims that the absence of medical evidence weakened the prosecution’s case, explaining that medical evidence is not mandatory where there is sufficient evidence showing how the victim died.

Although there was no eyewitness who directly saw the stabbing, the court held that the circumstantial evidence overwhelmingly linked Odey to the crime and established that his unlawful actions caused the victim’s death.

Justice Nicol-Clay, however, declined to rely on the defendant’s confessional statement, ruling that it was inadmissible because it was neither video-recorded nor obtained in the presence of a legal practitioner as required by law.

Having found Odey guilty of murder contrary to Section 222 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015, the court sentenced him to death by hanging. The case arose from an altercation over a woman, which escalated into the fatal confrontation.