By Kayode Akinmade

Human angle stories are about drama of life, and it can be no surprise that they frequently appeal to emotion. Humans are intensely emotional beings, and so it is natural for such a story as that of Ogbonna (Ogbonnaya) Igbojianu, a man convicted of armed robbery and murder by the court of law but who now insists that he never committed the crime, having been recently pardoned by the Governor of Ogun State, to elicit intense feelings. As presented in the story entitled “Cruel fate: How man wasted 26 years on death row for crime he never committed,” Igbojianu is supposedly a victim of miscarriage of justice, having merely bought a stolen generator and having been railroaded into jail. Says the report: “Igbojionu stated that, in what appeared a pre-arranged stuff, the police beat him up and forced him to sign a statement they wrote by themselves while refusing to let him read through the statement. The businessman said he was still in a state of confusion and disbelief when he was taken to court without having the opportunity to defend himself.”

Happily, though, as the story said, “Igbojionu’s joy knew no bounds as he praised Otti for being there for him when all hopes appeared lost and remaining the instrument God used to save his life and give him a second chance. After visiting the governor, Igbojionu moved straight to his village in Ikwuano, Umuahia to see his octogenarian mother, whom he saw last 26 years ago.” As the story spread on different platforms, various imputations were ascribed to the case, which predictably generated ethnic bashing by the usual suspects. The claim was made, very boldly, that Igbojionu was the victim of Yoruba conspiracy, having been kept in jail while the real criminal, one Segun Ajibade, was pardoned.

But a few salient points must be noted here. First, ever before any social media outcry, Governor Abiodun had, in exercise of the prerogative of mercy, commuted Ogbonna Igbojionu’s death sentence to life imprisonment in 2021. That was before the recent intervention which led to his release. And until you read the statement by the Ogun State Government setting out the circumstances surrounding the case, you are most likely to join the bandwagon of those casting Ogbonnaya as a victim. As pointed out in a statement released by the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Oluwasina Ogungbade, SAN, Ogbonna was convicted on January 14, 2003 by the Ogun State High Court and sentenced to death for his involvement in an armed robbery that resulted in the death of a security guard, Moses Bankole. The court found Ogbonna guilty of participating in an armed robbery at an ELF petrol station, where a gang of robbers stole a 10 KVA Lister generator and killed one of the guards.

Hear the Ogun AG: “Ogbonna did not merely buy a stolen generator. Indeed, there is no evidence till date, that Ogbonna ever bought the generator in issue. The true facts are that around 10:00 pm on 3 October 2000, a gang of armed robbers attacked ELF petrol station along Abeokuta-Lagos road and stole a 10 KVA Lister generator. The armed robbers overpowered and detained the two guards at the fuel station. They hit one guard – Yusuf Akanni – with an iron rod on his head and on his leg, breaking his femur. They hit the second guard – Moses Bankole – on the head with an iron rod as well, then they bound both guards. Moses Bankole died on the spot, while bound, while Ogbonna and the other armed robbers made away with the Lister generator. Yusuf Akanni, the surviving guard, was the first prosecution witness for Ogun State. Ogbonna was a generator technician so he was the robber who specifically loosened the generator from where it was secured in ELF filling station.

“At 2:30 am a few days later, around Toll Gate, Ota, the Police randomly stopped a vehicle which was loaded with firewood and pure water bags that had been used to conceal a big generator. That generator turned out to be the same generator stolen from ELF. Ogbonna was in the vehicle alongside the vehicle’s driver, Sunday Oloyede and one Kolawole Oladeji. When confronted by the Police, none of them could produce a receipt for the generator, so the Police decided to impound he vehicle and arrest its occupants. As the Police were planning to move the vehicle to the station, the driver and Kolawole Oladeji zoomed off with the vehicle, leaving Ogbonna behind. Ogbonna was detained in one of the cells at Toll Gate but before morning, Ogbonna escaped by breaking the asbestos in the cell’s ceiling.”

Ogbonna(ya) was later rearrested, and made two confessional statements without objection. During the trial, the prosecution called 11 witnesses, and Ogbonna did not call any witnesses or present evidence in his defense. Long and short: Ogbonna’s guilt was established beyond reasonable doubt. It is, therefore, most scandalous for journalists to published biased reports affirming the innocence he could not prove in the court of law. Ogbonna/Ogbonnaya fully participated in the robbery he was accused of, and attempts to deodorize his grievous crime amount to inflicting further damage on the psyche of the relations of his victims. Ogbonnaya has reunited with his aged mother but Moses Bankole never will. He is gone forever, cut down in his prime by Ogbonnaya and his gang.

The words of the Ogun AG are instructive, and will close this rebuttal: “If, as the viral reports now claim, Segun Ajibade has truly led a quiet life since his release, it likely suggests genuine remorse for his crimes and his gratitude for his freedom. This is the exact opposite of Ogbonna’s intransigence today and could explain why Ogbonna was not considered for release when Segun was. Ogbonna’s crime hobbled a business, terrorised Akanni Yusuf, and killed Moses Bankole. These victims or their relations remain today and attempts to sanitise Ogbonna’s conduct with falsehoods does fresh injustice to the victims. Those who, in a misguided quest for justice, are recreating Ogbonna as a victim will do well to remember Moses Bankole – the true and irredeemable victim of Ogbonna’s crime.If Ogbonna is truly reformed, he should silently and gratefully enjoy his freedom and pursue honest pursuits. Presently, his honesty is highly doubtful, and the world is hereby notified.”

*Akinmade is Special Adviser media and Strategy to Ogun State Government

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