A Lagos State High Court in Ikeja has sentenced Sunday Onilade and Fatai Alao to death by hanging for the murder of Tochukwu Chidi, a friend of the groom, during a wedding celebration in Bariga.
Justice Modupe Nico-Clay, who delivered the verdict on Friday, also handed them 14 years in prison for possessing criminal charms.
“The prosecution has successfully proved the ingredients of murder beyond reasonable doubt,” Justice Nico-Clay stated. “The evidence of the prosecution witnesses, particularly PW4, was overwhelming and credible enough to sustain the conviction.”
She rejected the defence’s claims of conflicting witness statements. “The claim of material contradiction in the evidence of PW2 and PW4 is erroneous. PW2 only specified that the object pulled from the first convict’s pocket was a knife,” she said.
Justice Nico-Clay ruled, “Sunday Onilade and Fatai Alao are hereby convicted and sentenced to death on count one and to 14 years imprisonment for being in possession of criminal charms.”
The two men pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and possession of charms filed by the Lagos State Government, but their testimonies and that of four witnesses led to their conviction.
Prosecution counsel Titilayo Olanrewaju-Daud told the court the incident happened on February 13, 2021, on Temple Street in Bariga, Lagos. She said the groom, Abimbola Bamidele, and his friends were offloading drinks after returning from a wedding hall when suspected members of the Oodua People’s Congress, including the convicts, attacked.
“They alighted from a mini-bus, armed with knives and charms,” Olanrewaju-Daud said. “They attacked the guests returning from a wedding, and during the chaos, Tochukwu Chidi was fatally stabbed.”
PW1, the groom, said he would never forget the day.
“February 13, 2021, was supposed to be the happiest day of my life. Instead, it became the day I lost a dear friend,” Abimbola Bamidele said.
He explained that while offloading wine, a tricycle and mini-bus with OPC members tried to force their way through traffic. An argument broke out, and the attackers came out wielding charms and knives. He said Sunday Onilade pursued him with a charm but couldn’t catch him thanks to a neighbour’s intervention.
PW2, Fabuji Riliwan, testified that he saw Chidi being chased with a knife and later found him stabbed in the face and neck.
PW3, Alex Chibuzor Nkemjika, said he was hit with a charm and lost consciousness. He identified the two men among the attackers. “The moment they hit me with the charm, I couldn’t talk or hear again,” he said.
PW4, shopkeeper Yetunde Seriki, gave a vivid account of the attack.
“I saw them stab the deceased repeatedly. I pleaded with them to let him go, but they didn’t listen. They kept stabbing him until he collapsed,” she testified.
Under cross-examination, Seriki maintained her story. “I followed them, begging for his life. He wasn’t fighting back. He was only asking what was going on,” she said.
Onilade admitted being present and carrying a charm, while Alao also confirmed he was at the scene and had fought people in ceremonial attire, though he claimed not to know if the person they fought died.
The court dismissed their defence and upheld the accounts of the witnesses who identified them.
The prosecution presented one exhibit and closed its case on February 13, 2024. The defence began on April 23, 2024, and the court adopted final written addresses before delivering judgment on Friday.
