An Ondo State Court sentences three men to death by hanging.

An Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure today sentenced three men to death by hanging for kidnapping, mutilating and killing a baby girl, Rachael Akingboye.

Family sources said Rachael's body, who was one-and-half years old, was found very close to her mother’s house with her right ear, right eye, right breast and right part of her scalp removed and mutilated.

The three convicted men are Olusegun Obaro, 23, Jonah Lase, 25, and Theophilus Friday, 30.

Justice Olusegun Odusola in his ruling by ordering said three men were found guilty to two counts of kidnapping and murder.

Judge Odusola said, “The offense for which the accused were charged is strict liability offense; death penalty is the punishment for each of the counts. Having found the first and second accused person guilty of both counts, the third accused is guilty of murder.

Odusola added, “I hereby sentence Olusegun Obaro, Jonah Lase and Theophilus Friday to death by hanging.”


A witness said the victim was kidnapped from her mother during the night by 'Obaro and Lase.'

A leader in the community and one of the vigilante groups where the crime was perpetrated said the three men were apprehended by the community and handed over to the police after they confessed to the heinous crime at Igbokoda Police Station.

The three men committed the offense on June 17, 2011 at Ikoriho in Igbokoda in Ilaje Local Government Area of the state. They were arraigned on a two-count charge of kidnapping and murder.

According to the Criminal law, kidnapping cases is punishable under section 3 of the Ondo State Anti-Kidnapping and abduction law 2010, and the murder charge was said to be contrary to section 316 and punishable under section 319 of the criminal code laws of Ondo State of Nigeria,2006.

**For every crime, there shall be justice, and justice must be equitable to the crime.