Justice Ibrahim Yusuf of the Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin has admitted in evidence video recordings of the confessional statements of eight men standing trial for the rape and murder of a 300-level student of the University of Ilorin, Omowumi Olajide. According to a report by The PUNCH.
Olajide was murdered at her residence in Tanke, Ilorin, Kwara State, on June 2, 2021.
She was found dead with her mouth gagged with cloths, her hands tied to the back with bruises in her private parts.
A piece of paper on her chest contained a message, ‘UNILORIN doesn’t forgive.’
The eight accused persons are Abdulazeez Ismail, Ajala Oluwatimileyin (Jacklord), Oyeyemi Omogbolahan, Abdulkarim Shuaib (Easy), Kareem Rasheed (Rashworld), Abdullateef Abdulrahman, Daud Adebayo (Bashman) and Akande Oladoja.
A detective from the Department of State Services, Femi Babalola, who testified before the court as the 10th prosecution witness, said the agency arrested all the defendants through the use of technology.
Babalola explained that DSS operatives tracked the victim’s stolen phone, adding that the location of one of the defendant’s girlfriends was first obtained, which later served as a lead to those who bought other items stolen from the deceased.
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He said the first prime suspect, Ismail, contracted three others a day after the incident to help him unlock Olajide’s phone, withdraw money from her account and sell other items.
The operative said the defendants conspired to transfer money from the deceased’s account, adding that one of them masked his face to change her ATM card PIN and withdrew N50,000 at a GTBank branch in Ilorin.
READ ALSO: 300L Unilorin Student Allegedly Raped To Death
“All the defendants were apprehended within 11 days of the murder of Omowumi Olajide and all confessed to various roles played in the rape, killing, selling and buying of items belonging to the deceased,” he added.
Attempts by the Kwara State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Salman Jawondo, who is the prosecutor in the case, to tender and play the recorded videos of the defendants’ confessional statements in the open court were rejected by the defence counsel on the grounds that a portion of the videos was recorded by a third party, who was not a staff member of the DSS.
Justice Yusuf, however, overruled the objections and admitted the videos as exhibits to be played in the court, while the matter was adjourned till next Thursday and Friday, August 26 and 27 for continuation of hearing.
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