by ‘Jola Sotubo

Two members of a vigilante group who brutally murdered a herbalist in Ogun have been sentenced to death.

The duo of Seyi Oyeneye and David Oyedele were sentenced to die by hanging over the 2006 murder of one Semiu Babatunde, a herbalist.

The deceased was stopped by the vigilante along with his brother who managed to escape. Babatunde was then shot in the mouth and hacked to death by the convicts.

Leadership reports:

Delivering his judgement, the presiding Judge, Abiodun Akinyemi, said the vigilante members were culpable in the murder.

The accused persons were said to have killed the herbalist in Olorombo village, Ijeun-Tuntun area of Abeokuta around 9pm in January 2006, when they accosted the deceased and his younger brother and ordered them to stop.

LEADERSHIP gathered that in the ensuing argument, the vigilante men brutalised the herbalist while his younger brother escaped from the scene and reported the matter to their septuagenarian father.

Before help could come, the deceased was tied down and shot by one of the accused persons in the mouth. He was also macheted several times on the head while people of the neighbourhood took to their heels.

The herbalist was said to have died at the gate of the Federal Medical Centre, Idi-Aba, Abeokuta, before doctors could attend to him.

The police subsequently arrested the vigilante members, who pleaded not guilty to the two-count charge filed against them by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Oludayo Osunfisan.

The police prosecutor told the court that the offence was contrary to Sections 324 and 316 and punishable under Section 319 of the Criminal Code Laws of Ogun State, 2006.

Delivering judgement, Justice Akinyemi found the accused persons guilty of the two-count charges of conspiracy and murder.