By Tony O.Riley-
A Nigerian prince has been sentenced to death by hanging for strangling a politician to death so he could steal her business. The corpse of the politician was found after an extensive search, her corpse was found two months later, in December 2012, by well diggers and fire fighters,” Akin George, the lead prosecutor, said.
Prince Adewale Oyekan, 50, son of the late Adeyinka Oyekan II, the 23rd Oba of Lagos, murdered businesswoman and politician Alhaja Sikirat Ekun in 2012. The Oba,(king) a pacifist and peacemaker throughout his reign, was a qualified pharmacist and had served in the Third Field Ambulance 81st West Africa Division in Burma during WWII.
The prince managed Ms Ekun’s restaurant in the Nigerian capital, and recruited her former servant Lateef Balogun, 27, paying him £12.59 to conspire with him. The evil pair strangled the 62-year-old before dumping her body down a 1,000ft well at her home, concealing their crime by covering the well with a generator and gas cylinder, it has been reported.
The pair then cruelly took over her businesses and property, including a bus which was subsequently sold for £360. Balogun had been employed by Ms Ekun to care for her elderly father but was sacked following a dispute. The court heard that Ms Ekun had helped the prince on his return, offering him a job at the restaurant and allowing him to stay at her home. They were both sentenced to death by Justice Raliat Adebiyi on Monday, who said she was satisfied the case had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Delivering her judgement, she said: “The circumstantial evidence was strong and cogent, the act of the defendants in killing the deceased was intentional and premeditated.
“The court finds that the prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt the offence of conspiracy and murder and are accordingly found guilty of the two counts.
“Section 221 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011 stipulates the punishment for the offence of murder as follows: Subject to the provisions of any other law, a person who commits the offence of murder shall be sentenced to death.
“Same is the punishment for conspiracy to commit murder as contained in Section 231 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011 and the above-cited provisions of the law does not give the court any discretion whatsoever in sentencing the defendants.
“For this reason, the first and second defendants are hereby sentenced accordingly on each of counts one and two to death by hanging.
“May God the giver of life have mercy on your soul.”