A Nigerian man, Segun Olowookere who was sentenced to death by hanging in Osun state for stealing fowls has explained his side of the story.
said he surrendered himself to the police when they came looking for him in April 2010
DAILY GIST recalls that Segun and his accomplice, Morakinyo Sunday, were accused of breaking into homes and stealing fowls, eggs, and valuables.
Olowookere was, consequently arrested alongside 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.
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.
In a fresh interview with The PUNCH, Segun said he surrendered himself to the police when they came looking for him in April 2010.
According to him, the Nigerian 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 November 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.”
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.”
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 explained.
