Nigerians have continued to express disbelief since the story of one Segun Olowookere, who was sentenced to death in Osun State for stealing fowl, broke last
Tuesday.

There were different versions of what truly transpired and why the convict was given what many have considered a harsh punishment for the offence.

Recall that the complainant in the matter is said to be Olowookere’s family member of the convict.

He was arrested when he was barely 17 years old when the crime was committed.

According to a deport by Sunday PUNCH, Segun Olowookere has now spoken about  the actual circumstances of his sentencing.

The facts

Olowookere was arrested alongside another convict, Sunday Morakinyo, in Oyan, Odo-Otin Local Government of Osun State, in November 2010.

They were accused of robbing a policeman attached to the Divisional Police Headquarters, Okuku, Tope Balogun, of two fowls and eggs.

On January 30, 2013, the police arraigned them before Justice Jide Falola of the state High Court in Ikirun for robbery and stealing.

Olowookere and Morakinyo were said to have conspired in November 2010 to rob one Oguntade Faramade of his fowls and eggs worth N20,000.

They were also accused of robbing Balogun Taye of his two mobile phones and attempting to rob another person, Alhaja Umani Oyewo, in her house.

According to the charge sheet, the convicts were armed with cutlasses and a Dane gun to rob one Elizabeth Dare of a gallon of vegetable oil.

Both Olowookere and Morakinyo pleaded not guilty to the charges.

However, Olowooke was said to have made a confessional statement to the police in which he admitted to committing the crime.

The state counsel, Biola Adewemimo, called six witnesses, including Alhaja Oyewo, Elizabeth Dare, Oguntade Faramade and three policemen, who testified against the convicts.

Olowookere’s counsel, Ayo Omolesho, argued that he was innocent as he was not arrested at the scene of the crime, maintaining that the prosecution failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.

However, Justice Falola convicted and sentenced Olowookere and Morakinyo to death (for conspiracy to commit armed robbery); life imprisonment (for robbery), and three years imprisonment (for stealing) on December 17, 2014.

By the time of the judgement, Olowookere was 21 years old.

However, Falola recommended that the state governor could decide to commute the death sentence to 10 years imprisonment, considering the age of the convicts.

Olowookere speaks

Olowookere, a death row inmate in one of the custodial centres in the country, has spoken about the circumstances that led to his conviction.

According to him, the police would have released him had his parents raised the N30,000 demanded for his bail on time.

Recounting his journey to death row, the inmate said he surrendered himself to the police when they came looking for him in April 2010.

He said, “I was at my father’s shop in Oyan after returning from school. My dad and I were discussing my university admission and suddenly, we heard gunshots, and everybody ran away except my dad and a few others.

“My father was taken to a police van where there were some children. I was peeping out and could hear and see what was going on. The police asked my dad where I was and he asked them what my offence was. When they couldn’t give him a satisfactory response, my father shouted at the top of his voice that I should run away because the police wanted to arrest me.

“But I was wondering what my offence was. So, I came out and went to meet them. I was detained at the police post in Oyan, and was taken to Okuku Divisional Police Headquarters the following day. I met the children who were in the police van when they came for me sitting on the ground and eating rice.”

The robbery charge

He explained that when he got to the station, the DPO asked the children if he was Segun Olowookere and they said yes.

According to him, 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 explained that he was tortured after his denial, noting that another suspect, Morakinyo, whom he met at the station with the children, also suffered the same fate.

“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. 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.”

N30,000 bail

According to Olowookere, the police wanted to release him on bail on the condition that his father would pay N30,000, which he did not have.

“My father could only raise N20,000 out of the N30,000 they demanded. The police rejected it and insisted on the N30,000.

“My dad left the station to look for the money. But before he returned the following day, we had been moved to the SARS office in Osogbo. The cutlasses that were given to me and Morakinyo to cut the grass were presented to SARS as exhibits and they were told we were armed robbers.

“After 17 days in the SARS cell, we were taken to a magistrate’s court and charged with robbery, and from there to the High Court, where we were sentenced to death,” he added.

According to him, the poultry farm where the broilers were reportedly stolen from belonged to his uncle.

“We are from the same Ajerotutu compound in Oyan. He was summoned to a family meeting where he said I was not among those who stole the fowls, but my name was mentioned by the children who were arrested.

“He told the family that he would discontinue the case. But he later came to court to testify against me,” the inmate narrated.

Confessional statement

Olowookere denied making any statement to the police.

He dismissed the report that he was living in a six-bedroom apartment when the crime was committed, stating that he never lived alone as he was living with his parents when he was arrested by the police.

“I never wrote any statement to the police. My parents never had a flat, not to mention a six-bedroom flat. I lived with my parents until I was arrested,” he stated.

On why his lawyer didn’t object to the statement during the trial, Olowookere said, “I didn’t know anything, but I am sure I didn’t write any statement.”

Mental illness

The convict claimed that the second convict, Morakinyo, suffered mental illness while in detention.

Olowookere said the convict bled from different parts of his body after he was tortured by the police.

“He is now a mad person. He is at Ibara prison.  He developed mental issues when we were tortured at the police station in Okuku and by the officers of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad. I am just lucky, and I believe God’s grace is over me.

“Morakinyo was bleeding from the anus, ears, nose, and on the head. The police did not treat him despite that. I cleaned the cell every day because his blood stained the floor. He was bleeding for the entire six days we spent inside the Okuku police cell before we were transferred to the SARS cell in Osogbo.

“We spent 17 days with SARS and Morakinyo bled every day. Some of the SARS officers noticed that he was not mentally normal again but others thought he was pretending, and from there, he developed full mental issues.

“When we were remanded at Ilesa Custodial Centre, the warders tried to manage his mental health but they didn’t have the capacity. His condition then worsened. As I am talking to you, he doesn’t recognise anybody again. His mother has stopped checking up on him.”

The inmate said his dream is to become a doctor and be useful to society.

According to him, he is already working with medical workers at his custodial centre.

He said he resorted to working with them when he couldn’t afford to fund a medical course at the National Open University.

The convict stated, “I first enrolled in Yewa College of Education, Abeokuta, Ogun State, after my sentence. It is my dream to study medicine, but it is not available at a college of education. I was later transferred to a maximum prison in 2016. But due to financial constraints, I couldn’t study my dream course.

“However, I was encouraged to train under the medical practitioners in the prison. So, I applied and I was accepted into the medical line in 2017. Since then, I have been working with the nurses, pharmacists, and doctors inside the prison.

“I believe I will be free one day, and when I regain my freedom, I will definitely go for medicine. I pray to God to set me free because I am innocent. I don’t know anything about the crime I am convicted for. I pray to God to give me the opportunity to prove my innocence to the world, and be useful to society. I am not a criminal; I have never stolen anything in my life, not to talk of robbing somebody.”

Governor Adeleke intervenes

The Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, according to a post on his X account, directed the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Oluwole Jimi-Bada, to initiate processes to grant Olowookere pardon.

Adeleke, on Tuesday, wrote, “I have received the report of a case of a young man reportedly sentenced to death by hanging in Osun State for stealing a fowl.

“Consequently, I have directed the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Osun State, to commence a full investigation into the matter and initiate processes to grant a prerogative of mercy to the young man.

“Osun is a land of justice and equity and must ensure fairness and protection of the sanctity of lives. I assure members of the public that this matter is receiving my direct attention with every sense of urgency attached to our response to the matter.”