Lagos State High Court, Ikeja has convicted and sentenced a dismissed police sergeant, Ologunowa Ojo to seven years imprisonment for shooting Taiye Akande , 45,to death with his Ak47 riffle .
Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo ,sentenced Ojo, after finding him guilty of a charge of manslaughter contrary to Section 224 of the Criminal Law of Lagos 2015.
Justice Taiwo in her judgment said that there have been several incidents of extrajudicial killings by the police under the guise of accidental discharge.
Taiwo noted that the sentence would serve as a deterrent to erring officers of the law.
“The defendant acted with gross negligence and recklessness without regard for human life. The defendant, Ologunowa Ojo is hereby sentenced to seven years imprisonment.
“In accordance with Section 315 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law 2015 I will take into consideration the time he has spent in prison custody which is a year and three months (February 2016 to May 2017). The time spent in custody (a year and three months) will be deducted from the sentence. This is the judgment of the court,” the judge said.
According to the prosecution led by
Mrs O. A Bajulaiye-Bishi, Ojo ,who was attached to Special Protection Unit (SPU),Ikeja, Lagos ,committed the offence at 7.30pm on February 3, 2016 while on guard duty at Frajend Investment Nigeria Limited, Shapati Akodo, Ajah area of the state.
“Ojo who had served with the Nigeria Police Force for 16-years, shot the deceased in the buttocks during an argument. Akande was rushed to the Akodo General Hospital, Akodo, Ajah, where he died,” Bajulaiye-Bishi said.
While testifying solely in his defence on October 16, 2019, Ojo told the court that he had no intention to kill Akande.
He said that while he was on duty, he approached some individuals who were sitting on the company’s fence and had told them to stop sitting on the fence.
“Some people came down while others did not, I got into an argument with some of them, I cocked my rifle and it accidentally fired. I never intended that the deceased should die,” Ojo told the court.
