A Lagos State High Court sitting in the Ikeja area of the state, on Tuesday, convicted and sentenced a former hotel worker, Jeffrey Ehizojie, to death by hanging for killing the owner of Etashol and Suites Hotel, Olusola Olusoga, and the manager of the hotel, Tunji Omikunle, in the Ojodu Berger area of the state.
Justice Oyindamola Ogala found Ehizojie, 30, guilty of beating and strangulating Olusoga.
Ogala held that the prosecution proved the two-count charge of murder beyond a reasonable doubt.
In her judgment, the judge held that the crux of the case of the prosecution was premised upon the confessional statement of the convict as well as circumstantial evidence.
She stated that the court had carefully considered the retracted defence statement, which showed where Ehizojie stated that one of the hotel workers, Henry, had informed him that he observed that the owner of the hotel kept much money at home.
Ogala said, “The defendant, in his confessional statement, said Olusoga treated her workers badly so they planned to tie her and collect her money. Confessional statement is the best evidence to ground conviction and as held in several cases, it can be relied upon solely where voluntary.
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“It is curious that the defendant who was privy to the state of affairs in the hotel told the court that he was shocked when the police informed him of the death of his boss and the manager when he was arrested at Port Harcourt.
“There is no doubt that the defendant was present at the premises of the scene of the crime as confirmed by him in his evidence in chief and exhibits before the court.”
The judge further said the court had carefully considered the evidence of the defendant, particularly his account of how he left the hotel premises on January 25, 2019, and his incredible story as to why he did not return to the hotel after the incident or report at the police station.
She held that the convict had no clear explanation why he fled to Port Harcourt the next day until his arrest.
According to her, the circumstantial evidence against the convict was unequivocal, positive, and irresistibly pointed to his guilt.
She said, “The court believes that the defendant indeed wrote the confessional statement (exhibit PW2a-c) and his feeble attempt to retract same was to exonerate himself from the commission of the deadly act.
“After careful consideration of the facts in this case, I hereby found the defendant guilty of the two-count charge against him.
“The sentencing of the court upon you Jeffrey Ehizogie is that you be hanged by the neck until you are dead.”
The convict, who hails from Edo state, was arraigned on December 7, 2020, for the murder of his boss and the hotel manager and he pleaded not guilty to the charge against him.
The offence committed contravened Section 223 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015.
Ehizojie’s trial began on February 25, 2021, and the prosecution called four witnesses, including David Nkwor, a computer engineer who worked at Etsahol Hotel in 2010.
Several documents were tendered while the convict testified as the sole witness for himself.
During the trial, Nkwor testified that it was the police who woke him up to the news of the crime at the hotel and after informing him of the situation, got him to pen a statement at the State Criminal Investigative Department Panti Yaba.
Nkwor also identified some hotel co-workers to the police at the SCID, from a video footage at the hotel’s Close Circuit Television.
He told the court that he was able to identify his then co-workers, Jeffery Ehizojie, Henry, White, and a fourth person in the video, beating the manager and after killing him, he was left inside a toilet in the hotel.
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.
