Tuesday, May 12, 2026 - Justice Mojisola I. Sule, in Court 9, Oyo State High Court in Ibadan, on Monday, convicted and sentenced a man, Kolade Tosin, to d3ath by hanging for k!lling a 17-year-old girl, Ifeoluwa Apanpa.
The convict r@ped and k!lled the teenager at Olódó area in
Ibadan on September 17, 2022.
The convict was also given a life imprisonment sentence on
the second count of r@ping the deceased before she was m8rdered.
At the hearing of the case in the High Court, the
prosecution team, led by the Oyo State Attorney General, Abiodun Aikomo, had
called a total of four witnesses to prove the case, including the deceased’s
father, ACP Arimiyau Apanpa (rtd) as PW1; the deceased’s pastor, Olusegun
Ajulo, as PW2; Corporal Ayoade Quadri of Iyana Offa Divisional Headquarters as
PW3 and ASP Segun Oladunjoye of State Criminal Investigation Department,
Iyaganku Ibadan, as PW4.
The accused, Tosin, was the sole defendant in the case.
Before delivering the judgement, Justice Sule said that the
accused had told the court that he never gave a statement to the police, but
the court found that there was full compliance with the law when the accused’s
statement was taken by the police in the presence of his parents, leading to
the court’s admittance of the statement.
She quoted: “It is settled principle of the law that a
litigant will not be allowed to blow hot and cold at the same time.
“I hold in agreement with the prosecution that the
defendant’s denial of making a statement to the police later in his defence is
an afterthought and cannot avail him."
The judge also spoke on the defendant’s denial about his
parents making statements despite the prosecution tendering the
statements.
Though asked to call on his parents to corroborate his
statement in court, it was gathered that the defendant did not do so.
Justice Sule declared, “In the absence of this evidence,
which is possible to create a doubt in the case of prosecution, which could
have resulted in the favour of the defendant, I did not believe the defendant
when he told this court that his mother did not make a statement to the police
and that he was arrested by the police on his way from plumbing apprentice
work.
“I hold the considered view that the evidence of the
prosecution witnesses and documentary evidence, particularly Exhibits A, D4, F,
G-G2 constitute proofs of the prosecution.
"The evidence is very compelling and leaves no room for
acquittal. I hold that the prosecution has proved the ingredients of murder and
rape beyond reasonable doubt.
“The prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that the
defendant (i) had s3xual intercourse with the deceased (ii) that the act was
done without her consent (iii) she was not the wife of the defendant (iv) the
defendant had the intention and (v) there was penetration.
"The defendant gave a graphic detail of his crimes. He
told the police that he forcefully had s3xual intercourse with the deceased,
thus signifying that she did not give her consent.
“The deceased was not the defendant’s wife, and there was
evidence of penetration as the defendant stated in Exhibits G2.
“In settled law, that once a trial court is satisfied beyond
reasonable doubt on the evidence offered by the prosecution that the accused
committed the offense, a judge is entitled to find him guilty.
"Consequently, the issue of determination is hereby
resolved in favour of the prosecution and against the defendant.
"I’m thus satisfied, and I so hold that in the
evidence before the court, both oral and documentary, more particularly
Exhibits A3 and G-G2, the prosecution has therein proved its case beyond
reasonable doubt.”
After giving an overview of the trial proceedings, the
judge pronounced, “I therefore find you, Kolade Tosin, guilty as charged.
“The punishment section for the offence of m8rder in
Section 319(1) of the Criminal Code 2000 admits of no option and has no
discretion in court.
“I therefore hereby sentence you, Kolade Tosin, to d3ath,
by hanging on the neck until pronounced d3ad. May God have mercy on your soul.”
'On the r@pe offence, the judge quoted section 358 of the
Criminal Code, which provides imprisonment for life with or without caning.
She said, “Having found you guilty of r@ping one Ifeoluwa
Apanpa, I hereby sentence you to imprisonment for life without caning.”
Immediately after the judgement was pronounced, the
prison escort took him out of the courtroom in handcuffs to keep him in safe
custody pending return to the Agodi Custodial Centre of the Nigeria
Correctional Service.
The story began in September 2022 when the lifeless body
of the victim was found with blood-stained underwear along the road.
The mother of the accused found the deceased’s phone with
her son and reported it to the deceased’s pastor.
He was arrested by police detectives at Iyana Offa
Divisional Headquarters before his transfer to the Homicide section of the
State Criminal Investigation Department, Iyaganku, Ibadan, for further
investigation.
During interrogation, Tosin was reported to have
confessed to the crime but denied it during the hearing in the court.
The convict was 20 years old at the time he committed the
offence.
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