Nigerian Pastor
A Nigerian Pastor has been handed a death sentence, for killing a middle-aged man after inflicting a head injury that led to his death at the hospital.
The Pastor Kolawole Samson while being tried at an Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure, the state capital was said to have attacked one Ayo Olaniyi, in a village near Okeigbo area of the state.
The trial judge, Justice Ademola Bola ruled that pastor kolawole was guilty of causing an injury on the victim’s head with a cutlass at Gberinlegi village which led to his death after he was rushed to a hospital.
The State represented by Barrister Olusegun Akeredolu and Barrister Onotola Ologun argued that Pastor Kolawole committed an offence punishable under Section 319 of the Criminal Code, Cap 37, Laws of Ondo State (2006).
They told the court that Pastor Kolawole attacked the victim, Olaniyi on march 3, 2016, when he and his three other friends went to hunt frogs in a fish pond owned by the defendant.
Though the defendant pleaded not guilty to the murder offence, Justice Bola after four years of hearing the case ruled that the pieces of evidence provided before the court showed that Pastor Kolawole is guilty of the charges levelled against him over the death of the victim.
In his judgement, he handed Pastor Kolawole a death sentence and ordered that he be put to death by hanging until he is confirmed dead.
There have been several death sentences in Nigeria, but the questions asked is how often these sentences are being carried out. This has been one of the reasons congestions have become a problem across Nigerian prisons/correctional centres.
The debate against capital punishment has been a source of concern is different parts of the world and its abolishment has been adopted in some countries while Nigeria is yet to join the league of countries that sees it as inhuman.
