Osun gov pardons chicken thieves on death row

The Governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke, has pardoned Segun Olowookere, the young man who was sentenced to death in Osun for stealing a chicken in November 2010.

Olowookere was granted a prerogative of mercy alongside 52 other convicts who had varying levels of sentences in correctional centres in Osun, by the governor.

According to the spokesperson for the Osun State Governor, Olawale Rasheed, this pardon was in line with the recommendations of the State Advisory Council on the Prerogative of Mercy.

“Following the reco[mmendation made to me by the state advisory council on the prerogative of mercy, I should exercise my power in relation to the said inmates in order to mark the 2024 Christmas celebration,” the Governor of Osun noted in the statement published by Rasheed on Thursday.

The spokesperson also noted that the letter of commutation, which was dated December 24th, 2024, has been received and acknowledged by the relevant prison authorities in Osun State.

READ ALSO: Osun gov grants 53 convicts mercy

The young man was arrested alongside Sunday Morakinyo in 2010 and convicted of armed robbery, and sentenced to death by an Osun State High Court in 2014. He was 17 years old at the time.

Olowookere and Morakinyo were accused of stealing two fowls and eggs from a policeman attached to the Divisional Police Headquarters, Okuku, Tope Balogun. Both of them were also accused of robbing one Balogun Taye of his two mobile phones and attempting to rob another person, Alhaja Umani Oyewo, in her house.

Morakinyo was also pardoned by the Osun State Governor.