A 24-year-old commercial motorcycle rider commonly known as Okada rider, Idris Agunbiade, has bagged 21 years imprisonment for armed robbery.
He was convicted by a Lagos State High Court sitting in Tafawa Balewa Square on Thursday, November 2, 2023.
The Lagos state government arraigned the convict on November 26, 2019, on two counts of conspiracy to commit robbery and armed robbery.
The Prosecution counsel, Mr Moses Kuku told the court that the defendant committed the offences on October 15, 2019 at about 4 pm, at Oko-Afo area of Lagos State.
Kuku said Agunbiade, while armed with a gun, attacked and robbed one Nmachi Aloysius of the sum of N220,000.
According to the prosecutor, the offences committed contravened Sections 299 and 297 (2) (a) of the criminal law of Lagos State 2015.
However, the convict who was 20 years old when he committed the offences denied the allegation and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
During the trial, the prosecution called one witness who testified against Agunbiade, and the convict testified solely for his defence.
The defendant’s lawyer in his plea for leniency in sentencing his client told the court that Agunbiade was a first-time offender who had no criminal record before now. The prosecutor also confirmed that they didn’t have any previous criminal record against the convict.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice Sherifat Sonaike sentenced Agunbiade after she found him guilty of the offence of conspiracy to commit robbery and armed robbery.
The judge held that the prosecution was able to prove its case and the ingredients of the offence against the convict.
Sonaike said; “Consequently, Agunbioade is hereby sentenced to 21 years imprisonment on the two counts without any option of fine. The sentence is to run concurrently, and the punishment commences starting today.”
