Nigerian gospel singer Oluwatimileyin Ajayi.
A High Court sitting in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital in Nigeria on Thursday, June 26, sentenced a gospel singer, Oluwatimileyin Ajayi, to death by hanging for killing his girlfriend, Salome Adaidu.
The 24-year-old who was a serving corps member, was said to have been murdered by the 31-year-old convict, when she visited him at his residence in Papaladna village of Karshi Development Area, under the Karu Local Government Area in Nasarawa State.
Delivering his judgement, the presiding judge, Justice Simon Aboki said the prosecuting counsel proved their case beyond every reasonable doubt that the convict killed the victim at his residence.
The judgment posited that the defendant’s claim that he became unconscious after having a good time with his girlfriend, and was unconscious when he wrote his confessional statement did not hold water.
He, therefore, found Ajayi guilty of the offence, after several months of trial.
Justice Aboki noted that Ajayi was convicted under Section 221 of the Penal Code of Northern Nigeria, which prescribes a death penalty for persons guilty of such an offence.
“The law is clear on this, and the punishment is death. Therefore, the accused is hereby sentenced to death by hanging,” Justice Aboki ruled.
Meanwhile, in an interview shortly after the court session at the last adjourned date of May 20, 2025, the prosecuting counsel, Raymond Umaru, urged the court to establish its principles of law in the matter and convict the defendant.
He noted that based on the evidence available on the matter including that of Exhibit L which was about the confessional statement of the defendant, which he admitted in court without any objections, the court should impose the maximum mandatory sentence provided by law on the defendant.
“Our submission is that Exhibit L is evidence before the court and it is consistent with other facts established by the other witnesses.
“So, we are just urging the court to look at those evidences together, particularly Exhibit L and see that it is corroborated by the other evidences,” he said.
On his part, counsel for the defendant, Joseph Tuku-Bisong, said, “The matter borders on three exhibits namely, Exhibit L which is the purported confessional statement; Exhibit N_1 which is the matchet and Exhibit N_2 which are those small knives.
He added, “We are simply telling the court that though they have been admitted, there is something called probative value. Don’t attach probative value to those exhibits.
“Our prayer to the court is that the judge, based on the evidence before him, should discharge and acquit the defendant.”
Background
In January 2025, Ajayi confessed to murdering Adaidu, a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) after she allegedly cheated on him.
Speaking to local TV station, Ajayi expressed no regret and remorse for his actions citing alleged infidelity by his girlfriend, his reason for committing the heinous crime.
Ajayi, who was caught with the severed body parts of the deceased, has been remanded in the custody of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Nasarawa State Police Command in Lafia, the state capital.
“I killed her because we don’t have each other all the time. It’s not something I planned. It happened on that day and it happened. Not that I have the plan in mind.
“She was cheating. She hides most of the things from me most times. I got to know from her phone. I saw her chats with other guys on the phone, that was why I decided.
“I don’t have any regrets because life is reciprocal, that is what I thought. If you must do something to someone, you have to be reciprocal with that person. You have to understand what that person is going through so that you can actually put yourself in the position that the person is going through. That is why I don’t have any regrets because we were actually compatible,” he said in an interview with Channels TV.
Source: Graphic Showbiz