Robbery: 28-yr-old electrician bags death sentence, 4 yrs after

Lagos—A 28 year old electrician, Muyil Ahmed was yesterday sentenced to death by hanging after he was found guilty of robbery by an Ikeja High Court at gun point four years ago. Justice Kudirat Jose found Ahmed guilty for robbing his victim, a shop owner to the tune of N180,000 at gun point in Ikorodu area of the state in July 2012. Ahmed and others at large, had sometime in July 2012 in Ikorodu approached the complainant (names withheld)  around 9pm saying they wanted to buy a bottle of whiskey. She was said to have told them that she had closed for business but they insisted on buying from her. Given her testimony in the court, she said that while she was trying to get the drink, Ahmed pointed a gun at her and demanded for money. “I willingly gave them N180,000, but Muyil and his gang demanded for more. I tried to escape and it was in the process that I broke my leg and also sustained serious injuries,” she told the court. The convict and one Azeez Abass were apprehended and charged to court on two counts of armed robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery. During the trial, Ahmed who said that he was trained as an electrical engineer, admitted that indeed he robbed the woman but that he collected only N50,000 from her, rather than the N180,000 she claimed. “I carried out four robbery operations before this one. I only collected N50,000 from her and not N180,000,” he said. Meanwhile, Azeez, the convict co-accused on the other hand denied  partaking in the robbery. The Judge, Justice Kudirat Jose, in her judgment, pointed out that it was not how much that was collected but the motive of carrying out the crime. “The 1st defendant (Muyil Ahmed) is hereby sentenced to death, while the 2nd defendant (Azeez Abass) is hereby discharged and acquitted because the prosecution could not prove that he was at the scene of the crime that day.” The court held.