Nigerians were shocked on Tuesday when social media was flooded with reports about Segun Olowookere, an only child, who was sentenced to death in Osun State for allegedly stealing chickens.
The news generated widespread reactions, with many wondering what truly happened and why such a harsh punishment was given for the alleged crime.
According to The Punch correspondent who had been following the case since Olowookere’s detention in 2010, the complainant in the case was a family member of Olowookere.
The report said that Olowookere was arrested at the age of 17 for the alleged offence. In an exclusive interview with Sunday Punch, Olowookere shared his side of the story and explained the events that led to his severe sentencing.
According to the details, Olowookere was arrested alongside another person, Sunday Morakinyo, in Oyan, located in the Odo-Otin Local Government Area of Osun State, in November 2010. The two were accused of robbing a policeman, Tope Balogun, who was attached to the Divisional Police Headquarters in Okuku. The robbery allegedly involved two chickens and some eggs.
On January 30, 2013, both Olowookere and Morakinyo were brought before Justice Jide Falola at the Osun State High Court in Ikirun, where they were formally charged with robbery and stealing.
The charges against them stated that Olowookere and Morakinyo had conspired in November 2010 to rob a man named Oguntade Faramade of chickens and eggs valued at ₦20,000. In addition, they were accused of robbing another individual, Balogun Taye, of two mobile phones and attempting to rob Alhaja Umani Oyewo at her residence. The charge sheet further alleged that they were armed with cutlasses and a Dane gun and had used these weapons to rob a woman, Elizabeth Dare, of a gallon of vegetable oil.
When the charges were read, both Olowookere and Morakinyo pleaded not guilty. However, the police claimed that Olowookere had made a confessional statement admitting to the crimes during interrogation.
During the trial, the state counsel, Biola Adewemimo, presented six witnesses, including Alhaja Umani Oyewo, Elizabeth Dare, Oguntade Faramade, and three police officers. These witnesses provided testimony against Olowookere and Morakinyo, linking them to the alleged offences.
Despite their plea of innocence, Olowookere’s lawyer, Ayo Omolesho, argued in court that his client was not guilty. He pointed out that Olowookere was not apprehended at the scene of the crime and argued that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
However, Justice Jide Falola found both Olowookere and Morakinyo guilty of the charges. On December 17, 2014, the court sentenced the two men to death for conspiracy to commit armed robbery, life imprisonment for robbery, and three years in prison for stealing. By the time the judgment was delivered, Olowookere was already 21 years old.
Justice Falola, however, recommended that the state governor could consider reducing the death sentence to 10 years imprisonment in light of the young ages of the convicts at the time of the offence.
In the interview with The Punch correspondent, Olowookere narrated how he was charged with armed robbery after he was arrested in front of his house by some police operatives.
While he was explaining, he said that when he got to the station, the DPO asked the children they earlier arrested if he was Segun Olowookere and they all said yes. According to Segun, the DPO said one of the children arrested mentioned his name as their gang leader.
He said, “The DPO told me that one of the children confessed to stealing two broilers and some crates of eggs. I met the broilers and the eggs at the station. The children were eight in number. He told me the children said I was their gang leader, which I denied.The children he was talking about were around 12 and 13 years old, while I was 17 then. I told him I knew the children but I didn’t have anything to do with them other than greeting them in the community.”
Olowookere further revealed that after he denied the allegations against him, he was tortured by the police. He explained that another suspect, Sunday Morakinyo, who he met at the police station along with some children, was also subjected to the same treatment.
He said, “I met Sunday Morakinyo at the station and he told the police that he didn’t know me, nor had anything to do with me. I don’t even know where he was arrested. All the children were released but Morakinyo and I were not. We were seriously tortured from the first day I got to the Okuku Police Station under the supervision of the DPO.”
Further talking, he said, “The children who allegedly committed the crime were not beaten. He repeatedly asked me to admit and confess to a crime I didn’t commit. After some days, we were given cutlasses to cut the grass at the police station premises despite having injuries on every part of our body as a result of the torture.”