Seun Oladapo who murdered a human rights lawyer and social commentator, Kunle Fadipe was on Friday sentenced to death by hanging.
Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye of an Ikeja High Court found Oladapo guilty in all the five counts bordering on murder, armed robbery, assault, possession of dangerous weapons.
Oladapo who stood in the dock with the aid of crutches, was expressionless as the judge declared that he is to die by hanging.
“I hereby find the defendant guilty of all the counts, as the prosecution has proved beyond doubt its case against the defendant.
“The knife with which the murder was carried out is one of the most vicious and dangerous looking knives I have ever seen,” the Judge said.
The sad incident which led to the death of Barrister Fadipe happened on the 3rd of July 2014, when the deceased came back from work around 10pm at his Harmony Estate Duplex, Fagba.
There was power outage on the faithful day, and the deceased who noticed that power had been restored, instructed his seventeen year old son, Folatunmise to go and put off the generator.
When the teenager went to the generator house and made to put off the generator, he was accosted by Oladapo who stabbed him and pursued him into the house.
Folatunmise ran into the house raising the alarm that there was an armed robber in the house.
The deceased came out alongside his wife and sister-in law to see what the commotion was all about.
The deceased tried to pacify Oladapo who requested for N500,000 and other electronic gadgets.
The deceased requested for an envelope which had some money but Oladapo refused saying that the amount was too small. He reportedly boasted that someone would die that night, while the deceased continued trying to pacify him. In the process, the convict grabbed Folatunmise; and as the deceased was trying to rescue his son, Oladapo stabbed him in the neck and and back, and made to flee the scene.
He was chased by other members of the family, and during the scuffle, the deceased’s mother in-law was also stabbed in the chest.
Oladapo was eventually overpowered by other members of the family who had to tie a curtain around his head, to restrain him.
The Estate’s security operatives were called upon, and while they tried to overpower the convict he tried to grab their gun, and he was consequently shot in the leg.
By this time, the deceased had passed out due to excessive blood loss, as his jugular vein was almost severed. He was rushed to the hospital where he died the following day. The mother-in-law, Madam Cecilia Owolabi, also died two weeks later, after succumbing to her injuries.
Oladapo was charged to court where he claimed that he was framed up, and that he spent the night with his girlfriend, one Ayomide Michael, a fact which was refuted by all the six witnesses who testified that Oladapo was indeed on the scene of the crime.
In his plea for allocutus (mercy), Counsel to Oladapo, Worer Obuagbaka, pleaded with the court to have mercy on his client as he was a first time offender, who had sadly channeled his energy in the wrong direction.
But Justice Ipaye pointed out that Oladapo went to the deceased’s house with the intent to commit the crime, adding that his action’s led to the children of the deceased having to grow up without a father in standing by them.
“It is impossible for you to claim self defence for your actions when you are the perpetrator of the violence.”
“You are hereby sentenced to death by hanging for the first three counts, and you shall be hanged in the neck until dead. May the Almighty God forgive you,” she ruled.
The judge also sentenced Oladapo to three years each on the remaining two counts.
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