Abia man freed after 22 years jailed for robbery – Ogun AG

The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Ogun State, Oluwasina Ogungbade, has disclosed that an indigene of Abia State, Ogbonna Ogbojionu, who was recently freed after spending 22 years in prison, was jailed for robbery, not for buying a stolen generator, as speculated on social media.

Ogungbade, in a statement he signed on Wednesday, alleged that Ogbonna, alongside his accomplices, also killed a guard during the robbery that occurred on October 3, 2000.

Ogbonna became an Internet sensation after the story of how he regained freedom following the intervention of the Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, after 22 years of incarceration.

According to multiple social media reports, Ogbonna was sentenced to death for allegedly buying a stolen generator, a claim that has since drawn condemnation of the Nigerian justice system.

The reports had claimed that Ogbonna disclosed that, at the time of his arrest in 1999, he was forced to write a statement that he did not understand, prosecuted and then sentenced to death.

Reacting to the claims, Ogungbade described the claims as false, narrating that Ogbonna was lawfully and rightly convicted for the crime he committed.

While narrating the series of events that led to the death sentence conviction, the AG disclosed that on October 3, 2000, at about 10 pm, “a gang of armed robbers attacked the ELF petrol station along Abeokuta-Lagos road and stole a 10 KVA Lister generator. The armed robbers overpowered and detained the two guards at the fuel station.

They hit one guard – Yusuf Akanni – with an iron rod on his head and his leg, breaking his femur. They hit the second guard, Moses Bankole, on the head with an iron rod as well, then they bound both guards. Moses Bankole died on the spot, while bound, while Ogbonna and the other armed robbers made away with the Lister generator.

“Yusuf Akanni, the surviving guard, was the first prosecution witness for Ogun State. Ogbonna was a generator technician, so he was the robber who specifically loosened the generator from where it was secured in the ELF filling station.”

He continued that some days later, at about 2:30 am, a police team intercepted a vehicle at the Toll Gate area loaded with firewood and pure water bags, but upon a search of the vehicle, the police discovered it was used to conceal the same generator that was stolen earlier. When the driver, Ogbonna and one Kolawole Oladeji were confronted, they could not provide evidence of ownership of the generator.

The AG noted that the driver and Oladeji zoomed off while the police were trying to impound the vehicle, leaving Ogbonna behind.

Ogungbade continued, “Ogbonna was detained in one of the cells at Toll Gate, but before morning, Ogbonna escaped by breaking through the asbestos in the cell’s ceiling. However, by that time, the Police had already recorded the vehicle’s registration number.

“Investigations at the Alausa licensing office disclosed the owner of the vehicle who presented his four drivers to the Police. Sunday Oloyede turned out to be one of the truck owner’s drivers, and he was arrested. He led the Police to Kolawole Oladeji and Segun Ajibade.

“The three then led the police to Ogbonna, who was arrested, but by then had already sold the generator. Ogbonna led the police to the person he sold the generator to, one Ali Rihan, who released the generator back to the police and testified against Ogbonna and the others, as the 11th prosecution witness

The AG stated that during prosecution, Ogbonna confessed to his involvement in the crime, and did not present any witnesses to counter all accusations brought against him, but rested their case on the prosecution, leaving the court with no other option than to convict them.

Ogungbade noted that after his conviction on January 14, 2003, the Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, converted his death sentence to a life sentence in 2021 based on the prerogative of mercy.

He continued, “Ogbonna did not merely buy a stolen generator. Indeed, there is no evidence to date that Ogbonna ever bought the generator in issue. If Ogbonna truly owned the generator, he would have presented a receipt or any evidence of purchase to the police at the checkpoint or his trial.

“Ogbonna knew the value and status of a receipt because he issued Ali Rihan a receipt after selling the generator to Ali. If Ogbonna was truly tortured in detention to confess, what is his explanation for not objecting to the confessional statement at trial?

“How does he explain his legal strategy of calling no witnesses? Why did he not bring any witnesses who knew that he owned the generator, who knew his lawful source of living, or who sold him the generator? The truth is that all these did not exist.”

Ogungbade concluded by urging Nigerians not to be swayed by the narrative that he was jailed for merely buying a stolen generator, but to consider the state of the family of the guard who was killed in the robbery.

“Ogbonna’s crime hobbled a business, terrorised Akanni Yusuf, and killed Moses Bankole. These victims or their relations remain today, and attempts to sanitise Ogbonna’s conduct with falsehoods do fresh injustice to the victims.

Those who, in a misguided quest for justice, are recreating Ogbonna as a victim will do well to remember Moses Bankole – the true and irredeemable victim of Ogbonna’s crime. If Ogbonna is truly reformed, he should silently and gratefully enjoy his freedom and pursue honest pursuits. Presently, his honesty is highly doubtful, and the world is hereby notified,” the AG stated.