The Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin has sentenced three men to death by hanging for armed robbery and unlawful possession of firearms.

The convicts were arraigned before Justice M.O. Folorunso for robbing a man of his Infinix Note 11 phone at gunpoint on March 2, 2024, around 6:00 a.m. in the Oko Erin area of Ilorin.

Delivering judgment yesterday, Justice Folorunso, visibly moved, wept before pronouncing the sentence, saying: “The three of you shall be hanged by the neck until you die.”

In the same judgment, the court discharged and acquitted two women, including a pregnant mother, who had been arraigned on a four-count charge of unlawful possession of firearms, aiding and abetting, kidnapping, and criminal conspiracy.

The women, identified as Aisha Haruna and Rabi Umar, were arrested on June 25, 2025, by the Police Anti-Kidnapping Squad in Babanla community, Ifelodun Local Council, while travelling in a vehicle later found to contain an AK-47 rifle and 31 rounds of live ammunition. Other suspects in the vehicle reportedly escaped.

The prosecution, led by Senior State Counsel I.B. Olorundare, told the court that the women were intercepted by police and local vigilantes at about 5:00 p.m. on suspicion of involvement in criminal activity.

However, in a judgment that lasted over an hour, Justice Folorunso held that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, citing contradictions in the testimony of police witnesses.

The judge noted that although a rifle was found in one of the women’s bags, the evidence did not establish whether it was an AK-47 or AK-49, nor did it link the accused to any illegal act.

He consequently discharged and acquitted the two women and directed their counsel to provide transport fare for their return to their respective homes in Kaduna and Kanmbi community in Moro Local Council.