Two friends, Oluwashina Wakeel and Yusuf Adewale, have been sentenced to seven years imprisonment for conspiracy and assault of a road user in Osun State, AbdulSalam Oyewale.
Wakeel and Adewale, who were arraigned before an Osun State High Court sitting in Ede, during the attack on Oyewale, left him with serious injuries in the eye.
A Certified True Copy of the judgement delivered by Justice Kudirat Akano, obtained by newsmen in Osogbo on Thursday, states that the defendants, who first appeared before the court in March 2023, were arraigned on seven counts bordering on conspiracy, attempted murder, and assault occasioning harm.
They, however, pleaded not guilty to each of the counts, and the case proceeded to trial with the four prosecution witnesses called, while the defendants testified in support of their case without calling any witnesses.
Also in the CTC of the judgement, Oyewale explained that on September 19, 2022, while on a motorcycle with one Usman Abdulbasit along the Ibode Poly Road, Ede about 11 am, a black Toyota Corolla car having some persons in it overtook his motorcycle and blocked his way.
He further told the court that one of the two defendants came down from the car and removed the key of his motorcycle before he started beating him.
He added that other people in the car later joined and while beating him, they inserted a stick into his right eye leaving him with a devastating injury.
To get treatment, Oyewale said he visited many hospitals in Osogbo, Ibadan, and Lagos, where he was told that the eye was damaged beyond repair.
The prosecution team led by the Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary, Osun State Ministry of Justice, Morufat Bello, called four witnesses and tendered nine exhibits to prove its case.
Counsel for the defendants, Ayodele Laogun, while addressing the court, prayed for lenient sentencing for his clients, as they were first-time offenders with families and dependants.
Delivering her judgement, Justice Akano sentenced the convicts to seven years imprisonment for conspiracy; three years for assault occasioning harm; one year for assault; and one month for breach of peace, noting that the jail terms should run concurrently.
The judge held, “The defendants are therefore each found guilty of the offences as charged by the prosecution in this case except on count 2 which has been reduced from attempted murder to assault occasioning harm.
“In conclusion, therefore, I hold that the prosecution has proved the offences as charged and the reduction of the murder charge to assault occasioning harm in count 2 against the two defendants. The defendants are both found guilty as charged by the prosecution and they shall therefore be accordingly sentenced.
“Taking into consideration the allocates of the convicts, I hereby convict Oluwashina Adenle Wakeel and Yusuf Adewale as follows:- “Count 1: You, Oluwashina Adenle Wakeel and Yusuf Adewale, are hereby each sentenced to seven years imprisonment for the offence of conspiracy. Count 2: You, Oluwashina Adenle Wakeel and Yusuf Adewale are hereby each sentenced to three years imprisonment for the offence of assault occasioning harm.
“Count 3: You Oluwashina Adenle Wakeel and Yusuf Adewale are hereby each sentenced to seven years imprisonment for the offence of conspiracy. Count 4: You, Oluwashina Adenle Wakeel and Yusuf Adewale are hereby each sentenced to three years imprisonment for the offence of assault occasioning harm. Count 5: You, Oluwashina Adenle Wakeel and Yusuf Adewale are hereby each sentenced to one-year imprisonment for the offence of assault.”
Furthermore, the judge held as follows, “Count 6: You, Oluwashina Adenle Wakeel and Yusuf Adewale, are hereby each sentenced to one-year imprisonment for the offence of assault. Count 7: You, Oluwashina Adenle Wakeel and Yusuf Adewale are hereby each sentenced to one-month imprisonment for the offence of breach of peace. Period to run concurrently.”
