By Hezekiah Olujobi
Despite the fact that the real suspect of the crime cleared his innocence during the trial, he was still sentenced to death. Even though there was no direct evidence linking him to the crime, he was still sentenced to death. Failing to investigate a credible alibi can lead to a serious miscarriage of justice, resulting in an innocent person being wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death for a crime they did not commit. This underscores the importance of thorough and impartial investigations in criminal cases, especially those involving severe penalties like the death sentence.
What is an Alibi?
An alibi is a defense used by an accused person in a criminal charge, claiming to have been at another place at the time relevant to the charge. It was established in law that in a case of murder, the burden is heavily placed on the prosecution to prove the following:
(i) That the deceased died.
(ii) That the accused person unlawfully killed the deceased.
(iii) That the death of the deceased was directly caused by the defendant.
Once the prosecution is able to prove all the existing ingredients of murder, the court will be held accountable to ground conviction.
Now, on the issue of alibi. An alibi is a defense available to a Defendant standing a criminal trial, calling the attention of the court that at the actual time the alleged offense took place, he was somewhere else. To prove an alibi, the Defendant must state:
1. Where he was.
2. With whom he was.
3. The exact time he was there.
4. The address of where he was.
5. What he went to do there.
This defense of alibi must be strongly corroborated by the person(s) with whom the Defendant had a meeting. Don’t forget, you cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stand; it will collapse. Having mentioned an alibi, it must be proved.
Most importantly, during cross-examination, the Defendant’s counsel is expected to ask questions revolving around the IPO’s investigation of the Defendant’s claim.
If from the trial, the Defense established his alibi with corroborative and compelling evidence and the court still embarked on the voyage of convicting him, the law allows the Defendant to go on appeal within 90 days.
Now, in this particular case, Jelili Raji has this to say: ‘I was arrested in my house by the DSS, Oshogbo division on 11 January 2017 on the allegation of Conspiracy and Murder which occurred on 23/12/2016. I was traced to my house through my phone number found on a taxi driver’s phone that I chartered to Eleweran, Abeokuta on 2/1/2017. At the time of the incident, I was in the police station in Eleweran, Abeokuta, Ogun State between 15 to 28 December 2016. All my pleas of innocence in this case fell on deaf ears of the Court until I was sentenced to death along with the taxi driver on 2/4/2020.
I think the defense of alibi of where he was, with whom he was, the exact time he was there, the address of where he was has been answered. The next question is ‘what he went to do there?’
According to Jelili Raji, ‘I was similarly arrested by the police in Abeokuta due to my name being found in a suspect’s phone, who was involved in fraudulent activities and had absconded with money defrauded. He was being pursued by the police, leading to the arrest of his wife. The police were also making arrests based on the contacts in his wife’s phone, which included one of her husband’s SIM cards. I was arrested by the police in Abeokuta on the night of 15th/16th December 2016. We left Oshogbo around after 12 in the night and we arrived Eleweran in the dead night. Very early in the morning on 16, I was opened out from the cell to sign a record. I was released on bail on December 28, 2016, with instructions to report back after the new year on January 2, 2017.
Now, in this particular case, the Nigeria Police becomes the witness of Jelili Raji to corroborate his evidence. The evidence remains intact. The Police Prisoner Record PPR becomes his evidence; revisiting the overlooked alibi is very important to uncover fresh information. There is no way you can lock up a suspect without recording his details, and there is no way a suspect can be released from the police cell, either on bail or release without signing out. In this case, the Ogun State Commissioner of Police should help us look for the record of Eleweran dated 16th December 2016 to confirm if Jelili Raji is telling a lie or the truth.
We have a similar case in Agodi prison in Oyo State where the Federal SARS arrested different people from different locations and accused them of armed robbery. During our separate interviews with the inmates, we realized that one was arrested in Apata on 19 December 2012, another one claimed he was arrested in Lagos at Ore Falomo in his Barbing shop on 16th April 2013, another person said he was arrested on 18th of May 2013, the other 2 persons were arrested after the said robbery. Five of them were charged for conspiracy and armed robbery. Five of them have been standing trial endlessly. Our investigation revealed that these people did not know each other. The record shows a lot of contradictions. It was the guy who was arrested in December 2012 that even suggested to us to demand the record of the police in Apata police station that we will find his name there; the one that was arrested in Lagos said if we can demand the police record on 16 April 2013 at Oyo Dubar Police Station that we will find his name there. They were all charged for the robbery incident that happened on 10 of June 2013. When a suspect is raising the police as his alibi, I think that statement should not be overlooked by the court.
It takes our intervention to secure the freedom of those people during our case presentation to the Chief Judge of Oyo State Hon Justice Muntha Abimbola, and they were released. In this particular case, the appellant raised his alibi as the police, but because of political tussle, the police in Oshogbo, Osun State refused to investigate his alibi, the judge refused to listen to his claim of alibi, his lawyer kept mute on his claim of alibi.
According to Jelili Raji, ‘The police released the rest of the people arrested in this crime and charged me and the real suspect to court based on the influence and instruction of the king of our town, the Akirun of Ikirun, Late Oba AbdulRauf Olawale Adedeji, who insisted that I must be charged along with the real suspect in this case. He came to the police station in Oshogbo to ensure that I was charged to Court. Throughout the trial, the king always attended the Court until I was sentenced to death along with Elijah on 2/4/2020. The underlying reason for my persecution was a result of my conflict with the late king of my town who viewed me as a rival in the town since 2014 and due to political ideological differences. The king used his influence to sway the court against me, attending every court appearance until I was sentenced to death along with Elijah Oyebode on 2/4/2020.
According to Jelili Raji’s case mate Elijah Oyebode, a Taxi driver who took Jelili to Eleweran on the 2nd of January 2017 shed more light on this case: ‘I took Mr. Jelili to Abeokuta Eleweran police station on chartered, on 2/1/2017 and we returned the same day.
On 8 January 2017, I saw one of my friends with the DSS officers from Oshogbo on the allegation of Murder of a passenger that I carried to my house who died overnight, which occurred on 23/12/2016. Police traced the phone number of the deceased to my friend who stole the phone in my car unknowingly. The lady died in my house mysteriously on the night of 23/12/2016. When I was arrested, the police made arrests of everyone that I had called on my phone since the day of the incident, including Mr. Jelili Raji. Mr. Jelili Raji has no knowledge of the crime he was convicted of along with me on 2/4/2020 by the Ikirun High Court of Justice. I made this known right from the police station and before the Hon Court that I met Mr. Jelili Raji on the 1st of January 2017 for the first time in my life.
On 2/1/2017 I carried him to Eleweran. In the conspiracy, the lawyer kept mute. Our investigation to the Akure Court of Appeal to know the stages of the case shows his appeal is yet to be mentioned. Contact with his wife shows the agony the family is going through. Quite unfortunately, the king who orchestrated his misfortune has died.
Unfortunately, many Nigerian police officers do not inquire about or investigate a suspect’s alibi to secure a conviction. Few lawyers take the initiative to investigate their clients’ claims of innocence, let alone dedicate time to investigate their alibis. In capital offenses, many inmates are sentenced to death due to the deliberate efforts of the police to keep the victim in the dark. Not many lawyers take the time to investigate their clients’ alibis, and not many police officers ask suspects about their whereabouts at specific times for fear of jeopardizing their cases.
Where injustice seems to have prevailed despite the presence of a credible alibi as in this case. In situations where individuals are wrongfully convicted and sentenced to severe penalties like death, it is crucial that thorough and impartial investigations are conducted.
When you become aware of injustice or hear someone crying out for justice in your community, what concrete steps do you take to address the injustice? When justice confronts injustice, the unjust are thrown into panic.
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