Trial of Eight Suspected Killers of Unilorin Student Stalled

Hammed Shittu

The trial of eight suspected rapists and armed robbers, who allegedly raped and murdered a 24-year-old University of Ilorin student, Olajide Blessing Omowumi, could not hold yesterday due to the inability of three of the suspects to produce legal representation.

The suspects, Abdulazeez Ismail, Ajala Moses Oluwatimileyin, Oyeyemi Timileyin Omogbolahan, Abdulkarim Shuaib, Kareem Oshioyemi Rasheed, Abdullateef Abdulrahman, Daud Bashir Adebayo, and Akande Taiye Oladoja, were scheduled to be arraigned before Justice Ibrahim Yusuf of an Ilorin high court.

The state Police Command had earlier confirmed suspected rape and murder of a 300-level student of the university in her residence at Tanke area of the Ilorin metropolis.

The deceased, said to be staying with her elder sister at Tanke area, until her death, was a student of Agricultural Science department from Oke-Opin community in the Ekiti Local Government Area of the state.

The defendants were brought before the court by the state government in suit No KWS/33c/c/2021 on 11-count charge bordering on armed robbery, illegal possession of firearms and rape.

Three of the defendants, Abdulazeez Ismail, Ajala Moses Oluwatimileyin (Jacklord) and Oyeyemi Timileyin Omogbolahan, were said to have allegedly conspired among themselves “to rob one Olajide Gloria Blessing Omowumi also known as ‘Wumi’ (now deceased) of her Samsung Galaxy A2 Core phone and carted away other items, including one black Acer aspire, one series laptop, one Samsung drive, one pink wireless mouse, one white handheld mini sewing machine, one Infinix charger and one gold colour Wintouch tablet, while armed with offensive weapons, including a black wooden pistol.”

The prosecution also accused five others of aiding and abetting the receipt of the stolen items which include Samsung Galaxy A2 Core phone and some other computer gadgets being proceeds of armed robbery.

The charge also accused Abdulazeez Ismail, Kareem Oshioyemi Rasheed, and Abdulkarim Shuaib of stealing the sum of N116,000 from the GTB account of the deceased.

According to him, “The count also read that Kareem Oshioyemi Rasheed on or about June 11, 2021, did commit illegal act to wit; you were found to be in possession of one blue Samsung phone with IMEI 352031/496383/6, one black Lenovo phone, one golden Nokia phone with model number TA-1053, one mother board, one blue Itel phone, one black HP 15 laptop with model number 15-r002se, one black HP pro book 45ogi with serial number 2CE3481LIP, and one hard drive (500gb) as stolen items.”

The lead prosecution counsel, who is the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Salman Jawondo, said the case could not go on because three of the accused persons have not been able to secure the services of legal representation of counsel.

Speaking with journalists in court shortly after the court proceedings, Jawondo said: “The case was slated for the arraignment of the accused persons, but unfortunately three of them have not been able to secure the services of legal representation of counsel and under the constitution they are entitled to that since the offence is capital in nature.

“And where they cannot afford that, the state is bound to provide for them. So, because of that, the case could not go on, and we have to get an adjournment. Two of them said they preferred the state to get counsel for them while one agreed to find one for himself.

“We are hoping that at the next adjourned date which is July 6, 2021, they will get legal representation and the case will be able to proceed. Our application for now was to have them remanded in prison.”

Earlier in court, Justice Ibrahim Yusuf ordered the defendants to be remanded in prison custody, and adjourned the case till July 6, 2021.