A Misguided Facts Surrounding Ogbonna’s Case: A Witty Clarification -By Raji Usman Amao

The media is laced with a misconception that the recent pardon of Ogbonna was wrong and who accordingly was sentenced to death because he committed the offence Armed Robbery by Ogun State High Court. It bereft me to ask myself why is it that people tend to be sentimental when it comes to criminals arrested in Nigeria —the story that was flying around that Ogbonna was sentenced to death penalty because he received stolen property from another person is a fallacious statement that holds now water in the basket. This is very untrue and false at its peak, this is against what the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Ogun State—Oluwasina Ogungbade (SAN) who tried the accused in question and you can see therein where he explained in detail what happened in the case.

In brief, I will tweet what happened in the case for us to understand in toto; on 14 January, 2003 Ogbonna was convicted by the Ogun State High Court and sentenced to death. However, Ogbonna’s death sentence was converted to a life sentence in June 2021 by Governor Dapo Abiodun CON, in exercise of the prerogative of mercy.

Furthermore, Ogbonna did not merely buy a stolen generator. Indeed, there is no evidence till date, that Ogbonna ever bought the generator in issue. The true facts are that around 10:00 pm on 3 October 2000, a gang of armed robbers attacked ELF petrol station along Abeokuta-Lagos road and stole a 10 KVA Lister generator. The armed robbers overpowered and detained the two guards at the fuel station. They hit one guard – Yusuf Akanni – with an iron rod on his head and on his leg, breaking his femur. They hit the second guard – Moses Bankole – on the head with an iron rod as well, then they bound both guards. Moses Bankole died on the spot, while bound, while Ogbonna and the other armed robbers made away with the Lister generator. Yusuf Akanni, the surviving guard, was the first prosecution witness for Ogun State. Ogbonna was a generator technician so he was the robber who specifically loosened the generator from where it was secured in ELF filling station.

At exactly 2:30am a few days later, around Toll Gate, Ota, the Police randomly stopped a vehicle which was loaded with firewood and pure water bags that had been used to conceal a big generator. That generator turned out to be the same generator stolen from ELF. Ogbonna was in the vehicle alongside the vehicle’s driver (Sunday Oloyede) and one Kolawole Oladeji. When confronted by the Police, none of them could produce a receipt for the generator, so the Police decided to impound the vehicle and arrest its occupants. Two of the suspects ran away wherein one of them was later pardoned after the whole investigation was concluded. Ogbonna could not denied the fact that they robbed that filling station where one of the guard or security died in bondage and all what they asked in the Court —Ogbonna did not bring any witness nor rebuked all the allegations against him, and this shows he patiently rest it on prosecution, meaning that he admitted all the evidence and allegations read against him.

In the real publication said that the real thief was one Segun Ajibade, who was pardoned in 2016, leaving Ogbonna to suffer for nine more years.
The said statement stated further that luck also smiled on the ex-convict when he was a beneficiary of the most recent prerogative of mercy exercised by the Governor to commemorate Democracy Day 2025. Explaining the circumstances surrounding the incarceration of the ex-convict, Ogungbade stated that Ogbonna did not “Merely Buy A Stolen Generator” and that, indeed, there is no evidence to date that he ever bought the generator involved in this case.

“Based on these events, these defendants, including Ogbonna, confessed to how they had planned the whole robbery. Accordingly it was stated that “Ogbonna fled lawful detention”. The accused, also, after having seen the driver run away from the police with the generator, still proceeded to reunite with that same driver and still sell the generator without regard to the driver’s suspicious conduct.

In the proceedings, the Court does not believe that Ogbonna did not have evidence or objections to the allegations against him after he chose to rest his case on the prosecution—where the prosecutrix called Eleven witnesses and none testified against the accused (Ogbonna). Under Nigerian Law, it means that the accused agreed to the fact narrated therein by the prosecutrix which does not weigh the amount of reason to convict them—Hence, the Court does not have any other choice than to convict them.

The facts going viral on social media is sickening against the real facts contain therein the matter in contention. If truly, Ogbonna is the owner of the Generator stolen and this lead me to quote the ancestor— Justice Oputa rightly said in N.M ALI & ANOR v. THE STATE (1988) stated that;

“If the prosecution rests and refuses to put an accused person into the witness box to dispose to his own version of the events, then.. the court will not be expected to speculate on what the accused might have said if he testified”.

Most importantly, reading from the above down to the last part—you will understand that, it is not merely because of the stealing that he was sentenced to death but an offence that is greater than that was committed (Armed Robbery) which attracts stiff punishment. It should be noted that prerogative mercy is not a right, and nobody is entitled to it. It is granted entirely by the Governor at his own discretion—considering the following:

1. The nature of the convict’s offence
2. The convict’s assessed tendency to commit the offence again.
3. The ability of convict or convict’s re-integration back to the society
4. And the reformation of the convict which spontaneously laced his regret and remorse.

In conclusion, Ogbonna commission of the crime with other accomplices has hobbled and stuck-up a business, which claimed the lives of Moses Bankole and terrorized Akanni Yusuf. These victims have suffered deep and irreparable stigma from the accused —which outlived them to questions why Justice should be served accordingly and seen manifestly done. The society should stop misjudging the fact that Ogbonna was wrongly convicted without proper sanitization of the facts and evidence! I leave it with you the maxim, Que Sera Sera (What will be, will be).

Raji Usman Amao, a law student of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria (LLB PART TWO), A legal writer and analyst. He can reached via rajiusman223@gmail.com