Human angle stories are about drama of life, and it can be no surprise that they frequently appeal to emotion. Humans are intensely emotional beings, and so it is natural for such a story as that of Ogbonna (Ogbonnaya) Igbojianu, a man convicted of armed robbery and murder by the court of law but who now insists that he never committed the crime, having been recently pardoned by the Governor of Ogun State, to elicit intense feelings. As presented in the story entitled “Cruel fate: How man wasted 26 years on death row for crime he never committed,” Igbojianu is supposedly a victim of miscarriage of justice, having merely bought a stolen generator and having been railroaded into jail. Says the report: “Igbojionu stated that, in what appeared a pre-arranged stuff, the police beat him up and forced him to sign a statement they wrote by themselves while refusing to let him read through the statement. The businessman said he was still in a state of confusion and disbelief when he was taken to court without having the opportunity to defend himself.”
Happily, though, as the story said, “Igbojionu’s joy knew no bounds as he praised Otti for being there for him when all hopes appeared lost and remaining the instrument God used to save his life and give him a second chance. After visiting the governor, Igbojionu moved straight to his village in Ikwuano, Umuahia to see his octogenarian mother, whom he saw last 26 years ago.” As the story spread on different platforms, various imputations were ascribed to the case, which predictably generated ethnic bashing by the usual suspects. The claim was made, very boldly, that Igbojionu was the victim of Yoruba conspiracy, having been kept in jail while the real criminal, one Segun Ajibade, was pardoned.
But a few salient points must be noted here. First, ever before any social media outcry, Governor Abiodun had, in exercise of the prerogative of mercy, commuted Ogbonna Igbojionu’s death sentence to life imprisonment in 2021. That was before the recent intervention which led to his release. And until you read the statement by the Ogun State Government setting out the circumstances surrounding the case, you are most likely to join the bandwagon of those casting Ogbonnaya as a victim. As pointed out in a statement released by the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Oluwasina Ogungbade, SAN, Ogbonna was convicted on January 14, 2003 by the Ogun State High Court and sentenced to death for his involvement in an armed robbery that resulted in the death of a security guard, Moses Bankole. The court found Ogbonna guilty of participating in an armed robbery at an ELF petrol station, where a gang of robbers stole a 10 KVA Lister generator and killed one of the guards.
