An Oyo State High Court in Ibadan has sentenced five men to death for the killing of a taxi driver, Akeem Shittu, during a violent incident in 2024.
In delivering the ruling, Justice Oyeyemi Ajayi held that Segun Taiwo (36), Kehinde Ademola (46), Yahaya Adeniyi (45), Chinonso Samson (41), and Opadotun Michael (32) were collectively responsible for both the conspiracy and the fatal attack on Shittu.
The judge first imposed a 20-year prison term on each defendant for the conspiracy charge before issuing the death sentence for the murder count.
Earlier, State Counsel K. K. Oloso explained that a minor road dispute escalated into a deadly confrontation. She recounted that on April 10, 2024, at about 8:30 p.m., along Elepe, Arulogun Road in the Ojoo area of Ibadan, the defendants and others still at large assaulted Shittu after he inadvertently struck a motorcycle carrying two passengers.
The individuals involved reportedly moved to a nearby bar to resolve the matter, where members of the motorcyclists’ group demanded money for treatment. Shittu was unable to meet the full amount and was detained and stripped. Although he briefly escaped, he was later cornered and fatally attacked with a machete.
Investigators later located his taxi and handkerchief abandoned in front of a shop owned by the wife of one of the convicts.
The prosecution stressed that the offences violated Sections 316 and were punishable under Sections 319 and 324 of the Criminal Code Laws of Oyo State 2000, which impose stringent penalties for conspiracy and homicide.
