Kolade Johnson: Ex-police officer sentenced to life imprisonment for killing football fan in Lagos

On Thursday, Justice Adenike Coker of the Lagos High Court in Ikeja sentenced a former cop, Olalekan Ogunyemi, to life imprisonment for the death of a football fan, Kolade Johnson.

Ogunyemi, a member of the Nigeria Police’s Special Anti-Cultism Squad, shot Johnson in the lower abdomen on March 31, 2019, at a viewing centre in Mangoro, Ikeja, Lagos.

When the convict shot the victim, he was watching a football match between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.

While delivering judgment in charge no: ID/9776C/2019 between the State of Lagos vs Ogunyemi Olalekan, Justice Coker found the defendant guilty of the charge and accordingly sentenced him to life imprisonment with the caveat of serving a minimum of 25 years’ imprisonment.

At the resumed hearing of the matter on Thursday, the Lagos State prosecution counsel, Jubril Kareem, announced his appearance, while Abayomi Omotubora appeared for the defence.

The judge also sentenced the dismissed policeman to life imprisonment for manslaughter.

Olalekan was originally charged with murder but the court found him guilty of manslaughter.

During trial, the prosecution called seven witnesses, while the defence called two witnesses

At trial, a pathologist, Dr Oluwaseun Williams, testified that Johnson, 35, suffered six gunshot injuries.