The Ado Ekiti Division of the Ekiti High Court on Thursday sentenced 28-year-old Ayodeji Alomoge to death by hanging for killing his wife’s lover.

The convict was arraigned before Justice Jubril Aladejana in April 2023 on one count charge of murder.

Delivering judgment, Mr Aladejana said, ”To me, rivalry between men over the affection of a woman should not be grounds to justify provocation.

“I consequently find the defendant guilty of the murder charge against him and therefore convicted as charged.

”The judgment of this court upon you is that you, Ayodeji Alomoge, shall be hanged by the neck until you die.“

According to the charge, Mr Alomoge, on June 21, 2022, at Ikere-Ekiti within the court’s jurisdiction, did murder Ayomide Ogunleye for having an affair with his wife.

The police said the offence contravenes section 234 of the Criminal Law of Ekiti State, 2021.

In his statement to the police, the father of the deceased, Ige, said, ” My wife called me on the phone around 12:30 a.m. crying profusely.

”She told me that my son was attacked and beaten by Alomoge and his gang; I rushed down to the place where I met my son in a pool of blood.

” I saw Alomoge and asked him the reason for his action; he said Ayomide has been having an affair with his wife, and he told me that he warned my son to stop or else he would kill him.

“I took him to a nearby hospital and later to the University Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Kwara, where he later died.”

To prove his case, the prosecutor, Kunle-Shina Adeyemo, called five witnesses and tendered the defendant’s statements, pictures of the deceased and medical report of the cause of death as exhibits.

The defendant spoke in his defence through his lawyer, Adeyinka Opaleke, who pleaded to the court to temper justice with mercy. He called no witness.

(NAN)