Man runs amok after jailed by Ekiti court for life, stabs self with broken window glass

A man identified as Dada Ajewole, has caused panic at an Ekiti State High Court by stabbing himself with broken glass after the court sentenced him to a life imprisonment for robbery and rape.
Twenty four-year-old Dada had been tried by the court for robbing, kidnapping and rape of two female students of the College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti on November 7, 2015 along the Ikere-Igbara Odo Road.
The judgment was delivered by Justice John Adeyeye, who held that the prosecution had proved its case against Ajewole beyond every reasonable doubt.
The convict, however, became emotional, furious and restless immediately after the judgment was interpreted to him by the court registrar.
Ajewole, suddenly hit the window of the courtroom and broke the louvers with which he stabbed himself and also attempted to injure other people inside the courtroom.
It took the intervention of security personnel, who overpowered the convict and prevented him from injuring other people inside the court.
He was subsequently handcuffed and bundled into a waiting Black Maria.
Court workers, litigants and other observers were shocked by the convict’s
bravado.
Ajewole, on the day he committed the offence in 2015, had conveyed the two college students in his commercial vehicle, but made a detour into the bush, where he tied them to a tree and raped them one after the other.
The victims later escaped from the scene and reported the incident at the Ikere Main Police Station along College Road.
Ajewole was first arraigned at an Ado-Ekiti Magistrates’ Court, but the case was transferred to the State High Court after an advice from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
He appeared for the first time at the High Court on November 16, 2016.
To prove the case against the convict, the DPP, Mr. Gbemiga Adaramola, called four witnesses and tendered exhibits, including the accused’s statement and a vehicle with registration number EMR 218 XA.
The accused called two witnesses to support his denial of the offence.
After listening to Adaramola’s oral argument and that of the defence counsel, Mr. Sunday Ochayi, the court ruled thus: “The prosecution has not proved the essential ingredients of the offence of robbery against the accused.
“In conclusion and for the avoidance of doubt, the accused is found guilty of the offences of kidnapping and rape as charged in Counts 1,2 and 3 and he is accordingly convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.”