This the pathetic story of a
man who kills his best friend out of jealousy, dumps his body, takes his brand
new car, registers it in his name and throws a lavish party to celebrate it. And
thank God he has brought upon himself ‘death by hanging’ for his dastardly act.
Below is how Nigerian Tribune reports it……
THE State versus Damilola
Olusolade’s case was as interesting as it was dramatic from the beginning.
Right from the point he confessed to detectives at the State Criminal
Investigation Department (SCID), Iyaganku in 2010, almost a year after he
killed his friend, Ifedayo Adebisi, and converted the deceased’s vehicle to his
own use, to the date of his conviction, it did not cease to marvel many people
that someone could act like Damilola did to his friend, Ifedayo Adebisi,
without any reason, justifiable or not, other than greed or selfishness.
Since Sunday Tribune carried
the story in detail according to Damilola’s confessional statement during
interview, the duty fell on the newspaper to continue to follow the story to
see where it would end.
And the end came last
Friday, June 7, at Oyo State High Court 8, Ring Road, Ibadan when the presiding
judge, Justice Folajomi Oyelaran, handed the accused a death sentence through hanging
on count one of the three-count charge, based on the evidences before her.
Not only that, the convict
also got two and three years respectively on count two and three of the charges
which had to do with concealment of the body and stealing.
The court was filled on the
day of the ruling. Lawyers, law school students as well as law students from
some universities were in court to witness it. It was also observed that aside
jailors who usually accompanied the suspects, a police patrol vehicle with armed
policemen was also stationed within the court premises, an indication to those
who were familiar with court system that the day was a day of judgement.
It was the justice the
family of the deceased had waited for in the past three years. Though they said
that the convict’s death would not replace their son, they were satisfied that
his gruesome murder by someone he regarded as close friend had been avenged.
Getting Damilola to confess
to his deeds did not come easy. Either out of guilt or hard-heartedness, no one
could tell. For those who might not be familiar with the story which was first
published in the Sunday Tribune of October, 2010, Damilola and Ifedayo hailed
from the same town, Owo in Ondo state. Having grown up in the town together,
they attended the same secondary school, after which they went different ways
to pursue their tertiary education.
Fate (?) however brought the duo together
when they bumped into each other at Oba Adebimpe Road, Dugbe, Ibadan on which
the organisations they were both working for were situated. Reliving their
teenage years, the two friends continued their friendship where it stopped many
years back, unknown to Ifedayo that his friend was no longer the person he knew
before.
Ifedayo built so much trust in Damilola
that when he needed to get a vehicle for easy mobility, he contacted his friend
and even asked him to accompany him to Berger area of Lagos, where he wanted to
buy the car. After the purchase of the vehicle, Adebisi allowed his friend to
be the first person to drive the vehicle, unknown to him that he would never be
allowed to savour the joy of ownership.
The convict confessed to have strangulated
his bosom friend, Ifedayo, on December 2, 2009 on their way back from Lagos.
Not only did he kill his friend and dumped his body in the bush along the
expressway, Damilola also went ahead to register the deceased’s car in his own
name and even invited his friends to rejoice with him on the purchase of his
new car.
Efforts the deceased’s
family to trace him through his ‘bosom friend’ proved abortive as he claimed
ignorant of his whereabouts. But for the insistence of Ifedayo’s mother, Mrs
Funmilayo Adebisi Alale, the disappearance of Ifedayo would have been shrouded
in mystery for ever. This was because Damilola continually and consistently
denied knowing where Ifedayo was.
However, the bubble burst
when detectives from the State Criminal Investigative Department, discovered
during investigations that the accused still used the deceased’s sim card to
call the car dealers who sold the vehicle to his friend, that the gear was not
working well.
When faced with evidences
that he should know his friend’s whereabouts, Damilola caved in and confessed
to his crime, saying he did not know what made him commit the act because
Ifedayo was his dear friend who did not offend him in any way.
He declared peace upon
himself after the confession, saying “My friend used to eat from my pot. If I
had the intention of killing him, I could have poisoned him, which I did not
do. After killing him, I went back to the spot where I dropped his corpse and
saw his decomposing body with the cloth torn. Since then, I had not travelled
to Lagos because I could not bring myself to pass through that place.
“I regret my action but I can’t really say
what came over me. Why my friend? He was the breadwinner of the family. Now my
family has deserted me. I have disappointed everyone of them. My mother and my
wife were just weeping. Well, whatever happens, I know that God is a merciful
One and will still accept me even if I have to die.”
Ifedayo’s mother had once
told Sunday Tribune after one of the court sessions when the convict was on
trial: “What Damilola has done to me is too much. Since Ifedayo’s death, I have
not been at peace and my health has failed. I cry every day as Damilola has
thrown the entire family into turmoil with his action.”
Also, Ifedayo’s immediate
younger sister, Oladeji Adebisi had said that the hearing process should be
fast so that the family could have peace. “Damilola should also be asked what
my brother did to him that made him kill him. He should also be prevailed on to
return my brother’s laptop, phone, documents and vehicle that are with him.
Again, Damilola should tell us where Ifedayo’s corpse is because it has not
been found till date. My brother was the breadwinner of the family and his gruesome
murder is a deep pain for us,”she said.
Sunday Tribune learnt that
Ifedayo’s vehicle, a Mitsubishi Space Wagon, which lay at the premises of the
State CID for a long time, had been handed over to the family. It was also
learnt that sentence might be still be appealed at the appeal and supreme
courts but the family told the Sunday Tribune that they were sure that the same
law which worked against murder cases at the high courts would still be applied
at the higher level
No comments:
Post a Comment