The Akure Division of the Ondo State High Court has sentenced to death by hanging a notorious thug, Michael Oladun, for killing a man identified as Enikanoselu Ogunmusire.

Sixty-two-year-old Mr Oladun known as ‘Miki Jaga’ was an ex-campus warlord linked with some cult groups at the Ondo State University, Ado-Ekiti (OSUA) now known as Ekiti State University (EKSU).

Peoples Gazette gathered that the culprit, while on campus, spent eight years for a four-year course following his cult-related activities in school.

Mr Oladun was said to have stabbed Ogunmusire, 67, with a broken bottle on his head and chest during a quarrel over a piece of land.

In his judgment on Friday, Justice Yemi Fasanmi, handed down the death sentence to Oladun after he found him guilty of the murder, based on the evidence before the court that showed that the convict committed the crime.

Mr Fasanmi said that the prosecution was able to prove the offence of murder against Mr Oladun beyond reasonable doubt.

He, however, ordered that the culprit be killed by hanging his neck until he was certified dead.

On November 8, 2021, Mr Oladun was arraigned in a charge number AKR/173c/2020 on a lone count charge of murder.

D.G. Kayode, prosecution counsel told the court that on May 2, 2020, at about 5pm at Ogunja Street, Okitipupa in Ondo State, the convict stabbed one Enikanoselu Ogunmusire Ayodele, also known as ‘ Adam and Eve,’ with a broken bottle.

He entered a “not guilty” plea when the charges were read to him.

The offences, according to the prosecution, contravened Section 316 and punishable under Section 319(1) of the Criminal Code Law of Ondo State, 2006.

During the trial, Kayode called seven prosecution witnesses, including the victim’s wife, his son, and brother, an Investigative Police Officer and a pathologist, Dr O.E. Pelemo.

He also tendered the convict’s statement, a picture of the deceased with wounds from the stabbing, a medical/ autopsy report, the convict’s cloth stained with blood, and a broken bottle as exhibits.

Testifying before the court, the widow, Roseline Ogunmusire, said that she was aware of the quarrel between her late husband and the defendant over a piece of land.

She added that her husband told her on the sick bed before he died that Mr Oladun stabbed him many times with a broken bottle.

She stated, “On that fateful day, my husband left the house and I later received a phone call from my pastor that my husband had been stabbed with a bottle and he had been rushed to the hospital. Immediately, I rushed to the State Specialist Hospital in Okitipupa, where I met my husband with blood on his head. I asked him what happened? And he replied that it was Oladun who had called him on the phone regarding the payment of his land that he encroached on. My husband said he went to Oladun’s house to give him the account number he requested, and when he got to his house, he started fighting him. My husband told me that the defendant used an iron rod to hit him on his leg, and when he was struggling to run out, Oladun used a bottle to hit his head and stabbed him many times.”

A brother to the deceased, Mr Joseph Akinwalere, who also testified as the prosecution witness, also explained that the whole family knew there was a land dispute between the deceased and Mr Oladun.

He added that the deceased’s frantic effort to retrieve the land or his money made the defendant stab him before he died.

A medical expert, Dr. E.O Pelemo told the court that the autopsy indicated that there were multiple bruises and abrasions on the anterior portion of the neck, chest, shoulder and both arms of the deceased, which caused bleeding in his brain space, abdominal cavity and intestines.

“I certified that the deceased died as a result of massive loss of blood and deduction in the blood circulation of his body which resulted in a hemorrhagic shock, and eventually resulted into multiple organ failure,” he stated.

Counsel to the defendant, Adebanjo Aiyenakin, called three witnesses, including a pathologist, to counter the autopsy report tendered by the prosecution.

The defence counsel denied that his client was responsible for the death of Mr Ogunmusire.

He said his death was caused by the injury he sustained in his house when he fell from a staircase after being drunk.

Justice Fasanmi, while reviewing the facts of the case presented before him by the prosecution, said that circumstantial evidence pointed to the guilt of Mr Oladun.

“I, therefore, find the defendant guilty as charged and convict him accordingly. You will be hanged by the neck until you are being pronounced dead,” he said.