you kill your bestfriend, dump his body and take his car,register in
your own name and even throw a party to celebrate it?
That the story of Damilola Olusolade who has been sentenced to death
by hanging...
Read as The Nigerian Tribune Reports it...
THE State versus Damilola Olusolade's case was as interesting as it
was dramatic from the beginning. Right from the point he confessed to
detectives at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID),
Iyaganku in 2010, almost a year after he killed his friend, Ifedayo
Adebisi, and converted the deceased's vehicle to his own use, to the
date of his conviction, it did not cease to marvel many people that
someone could act like Damilola did to his friend, Ifedayo Adebisi,
without any reason, justifiable or not, other than greed or
selfishness.
Since Sunday Tribune carried the story in detail according to
Damilola's confessional statement during interview, the duty fell on
the newspaper to continue to follow the story to see where it would
end.
And the end came last Friday, June 7, at Oyo State High Court 8, Ring
Road, Ibadan when the presiding judge, Justice Folajomi Oyelaran,
handed the accused a death sentence through hanging on count one of
the three-count charge, based on the evidences before her.
Not only that, the convict also got two and three years respectively
on count two and three of the charges which had to do with concealment
of the body and stealing.
The court was filled on the day of the ruling. Lawyers, law school
students as well as law students from some universities were in court
to witness it. It was also observed that aside jailors who usually
accompanied the suspects, a police patrol vehicle with armed policemen
was also stationed within the court premises, an indication to those
who were familiar with court system that the day was a day of
judgement.
It was the justice the family of the deceased had waited for in the
past three years. Though they said that the convict's death would not
replace their son, they were satisfied that his gruesome murder by
someone he regarded as close friend had been avenged.
Getting Damilola to confess to his deeds did not come easy. Either out
of guilt or hard-heartedness, no one could tell. For those who might
not be familiar with the story which was first published in the Sunday
Tribune of October, 2010, Damilola and Ifedayo hailed from the same
town, Owo in Ondo state. Having grown up in the town together, they
attended the same secondary school, after which they went different
ways to pursue their tertiary education.
Fate (?) however brought the duo together when they bumped into each
other at Oba Adebimpe Road, Dugbe, Ibadan on which the organisations
they were both working for were situated. Reliving their teenage
years, the two friends continued their friendship where it stopped
many years back, unknown to Ifedayo that his friend was no longer the
person he knew before.
Ifedayo built so much trust in Damilola that when he needed to get a
vehicle for easy mobility, he contacted his friend and even asked him
to accompany him to Berger area of Lagos, where he wanted to buy the
car. After the purchase of the vehicle, Adebisi allowed his friend to
be the first person to drive the vehicle, unknown to him that he would
never be allowed to savour the joy of ownership.
The convict confessed to have strangulated his bosom friend, Ifedayo,
on December 2, 2009 on their way back from Lagos. Not only did he kill
his friend and dumped his body in the bush along the expressway,
Damilola also went ahead to register the deceased's car in his own
name and even invited his friends to rejoice with him on the purchase
of his new car.
Efforts the deceased's family to trace him through his 'bosom friend'
proved abortive as he claimed ignorant of his whereabouts. But for the
insistence of Ifedayo's mother, Mrs Funmilayo Adebisi Alale, the
disappearance of Ifedayo would have been shrouded in mystery for ever.
This was because Damilola continually and consistently denied knowing
where Ifedayo was.
However, the bubble burst when detectives from the State Criminal
Investigative Department, discovered during investigations that the
accused still used the deceased's sim card to call the car dealers who
sold the vehicle to his friend, that the gear was not working well.
When faced with evidences that he should know his friend's
whereabouts, Damilola caved in and confessed to his crime, saying he
did not know what made him commit the act because Ifedayo was his dear
friend who did not offend him in any way.
He declared peace upon himself after the confession, saying "My friend
used to eat from my pot. If I had the intention of killing him, I
could have poisoned him, which I did not do. After killing him, I went
back to the spot where I dropped his corpse and saw his decomposing
body with the cloth torn. Since then, I had not travelled to Lagos
because I could not bring myself to pass through that place.
"I regret my action but I can't really say what came over me. Why my
friend? He was the breadwinner of the family. Now my family has
deserted me. I have disappointed everyone of them. My mother and my
wife were just weeping. Well, whatever happens, I know that God is a
merciful One and will still accept me even if I have to die."
Ifedayo's mother had once told Sunday Tribune after one of the court
sessions when the convict was on trial: "What Damilola has done to me
is too much. Since Ifedayo's death, I have not been at peace and my
health has failed. I cry every day as Damilola has thrown the entire
family into turmoil with his action."
Also, Ifedayo's immediate younger sister, Oladeji Adebisi had said
that the hearing process should be fast so that the family could have
peace. "Damilola should also be asked what my brother did to him that
made him kill him. He should also be prevailed on to return my
brother's laptop, phone, documents and vehicle that are with him.
Again, Damilola should tell us where Ifedayo's corpse is because it
has not been found till date. My brother was the breadwinner of the
family and his gruesome murder is a deep pain for us,"she said.
Sunday Tribune learnt that Ifedayo's vehicle, a Mitsubishi Space
Wagon, which lay at the premises of the State CID for a long time, had
been handed over to the family. It was also learnt that sentence might
be still be appealed at the appeal and supreme courts but the family
told the Sunday Tribune that they were sure that the same law which
worked against murder cases at the high courts would still be applied
at the higher level
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