Two officials of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) – Azonta Amarachukwu and Ajayi Adebayo – have been sentenced to death by hanging for armed robbery.
Justice Onyindamola Ogala of the Ikeja High Court sentenced the duo over a two-count charge bordering on conspiracy to commit robbery and armed robbery levelled against them by the state.
The judge while delivering his judgement said that the prosecutor was able to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the convicts committed the crime.
Messers Amarachukwu and Adebayo were said to have embarked on an illegal midnight operation on January 20, 2018, into the early hours of the next day.
However, at about 2 am, it was gathered that the NSCDC officials armed with guns and other weapons hijacked an Iveco Container Trucks with Registration No. LSR 746 XD.
The vehicle, hijacked by the personnel contained 1,700 cartons of Chelsea and Action Bitter drinks valued at N2.7 million, waybill, mobile phones and cash.
The duo later abandoned the truck alongside other stolen items along the Yaya Abatan junction whilst recovery was made by the police.
In his judgement, the judge said, “I convict defendants based on the eyewitness account and other circumstantial evidence which were highlighted in the case by the prosecution.
“It was inconsequential that the vehicle and other belongings stolen were abandoned and recovered later, as the crime was complete at the point of the hijack.
“The defendants are hereby found guilty as charged and sentenced to death by hanging,” he delivered.
Reacting to the conviction, Babajide Martins, the director of public prosecution, said the decision to prosecute to the defendants have been justified by the judgement of the court.
Martins said, “Members of the public should see law enforcement officers as succour in public and not as threat to their public safety.